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LECTURES ON LANGUAGE, 

AS PARTICULARLY CONNECTED WITH 

ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF TEACHERS AND ADVANCED 
LEARNERS. 



BY WM. S. BALCH, 



Silence is better than unmeaning words. — Pythagoras. 




PROVIDENCE: 

B. CRANSTON & CO 

1 838. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, 

By B. Cranston & Co. 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Rhode-Island. 



LC Control Number 



1 




tmp96 027683 



Providence, Feb. 24, 1838. 
To Wm. S. Balch, 

Sir— The undersigned, in behalf of the Young People's Institute, 
hasten to present to you the following Resolutions, together with 
their personal thanks, for the Lectures you have delivered before 
Ihem, on the Philosophy of Language. The uncommon degree of 
interest, pleasui-e and profit, with which you have been listened to, 
is conclusive evidence, that whoever possesses taste and talents to 
comprehend and appreciate the philosophy of language, which you 
have so successfully cultivated, cannot fail to attain a powerful in- 
fluence over the minds of his audience. The Committee respect- 
fully request you to favor them with a copy of your licctures for 
the Press. 

Very respectfully, 

Your most obedient servants, 

C. T. JAMES, 
E. F. MILLER, 
H. L. WEBSTER, 

Resolved, That we have been highly entertained and greatly in- 
structed by the Lectures of our President, on the subject of Lan- 
guage ; that we consider the principles he has advocated, immuta- 
bly true, exceedingly important, and capable of an easy adoption in 
the study of that important branch of human knowledge. 

Resolved, That we have long regretted the want of a system to 
explain the grammar of our vernacular tongue, on plain, rational, 
and consistent principles, in accordance with philosophy and truth, 
and in a way to be imderstood and practised by children and adults. 

Resolved, That in our opinion, the manifold attempts which have 
been made, though doubtless undertaken with the purest intentions, 
to simplify and make easy existing systems, have failed entirely of 
their object, and tended only to perplex, rather than enlighten 
learners. 



Resolved, That in our belief, the publication of these Lectures 
would meet the wants of the community, and throw a flood of light 
upon this hitherto dark, and intricate, and yet exceedingly in- 
teresting department of a common education, and thus prove of im- 
mense service to the present and future generations. 

Resolved, That Messrs. Charles T. James, Edward F. Miller, 
and Henry L. Webster, be a Committee to wait on Rev. William 
S. Balch, and request the publication of his very interesting Course 
of Lectures before this Institute. 

Providence, Feb. 25, 1838. 
Messrs. C. T. James, E. F. Miller, and H. L. Webster : 

Gentlemen — Your letter, together with the Resolutions accom- 
panying it, was duly and gratefully received. It gives me no ordi- 
nary degree of pleasure to know that so deep an interest has been, 
and still is, felt by the members of our Institute, as well as the pub- 
lic generally, on this important subject ; for it is one which concerns 
the happiness and welfare of our whole community ; but especially 
the rising generation. 

The only recommendation of these Lectures is the subject of 
which they treat. They were written in the space of a few weeks, 
and in the midst of an accumulation of engagements which almost 
forbade the attempt. But presuming )'^ou will make all due allow- 
ances for whatever errors you may discover in the style of compo- 
sition, and regard the matter more than the manner, I consent to 
their publication, hoping they will be of some service in the great 
cause of human improvement.. 
I am, gentlemen, 

Very respectfully yours, 

WM. S. BALCH, 



PREFACE. 



There is no subject so deeply interesting and important to 
rational beings as the knowledge of language, or one which 
presents a more direct and powerful claim upon all classes 
in the community ; for there is no other so closely interwov- 
en with all the affairs of human life, social, moral, political 
and religious. It forms a basis on which depends a vast 
portion of the happiness of mankind, and deserves the first 
attention of every philanthropist. 

Great difficulty has been experienced in the common 
method of explaining language, and grammar has long been 
considered a dry, uninteresting, and tedious study, by nearly 
all the teachers and scholars in the land. But it is to be 
presumed that the fault in this case, if there is any, is to be 
sought for in the manner of teaching, rather than in the 
science itself; for it would be unreasonable to suppose that 
a subject which occupies the earliest attention of the parent, 
which is acquired at great expense of money, time, and 
thought, and is employed from the cradle to the gravo, in 
all our waking hours, can possibly be dull or unimportant, 
if rightly explained. 



Vt FREFACE. 

Children have been required to learn verbal forms and 
changes, to look at the mere signs of ideas, instead of the 
things represented by them. The consequence has been 
that the whole subject has become uninteresting to all who 
do not possess a retentive verbal memory. The philosophy 
of language, the sublime principles on which it depends for 
its existence and use, have not been sufficiently regarded to 
render it delightful and profitable. 

The humble attempt here made is designed to open the 
way for an exposition of language on truly philosophical 
principles, which, when correctly explained, are abundantly 
simple and extensively useful. With what success this point 
has been labored the reader will determine. 

The author claims not the honor of entire originality. 
The principles here advanced have been advocated, believed, 
and successfully practised. William S. Cardell, Esq.y a 
bright star in the firmament of American literature, reduced 
these principles to a system, which was taught with triumph- 
ant success by Daniel H. Barnes, formerly of the New- 
York High School, one of the most distinguished teachers 
who ever officiated in that high and responsible capacity in 
our country. Both of these gentlemen, so eminently cal- 
culated to elevate the standard of education, were sum- 
moned from the career of the most active usefulness, from 
the scenes they had labored to brighten and beautify by the • 
aid of their transcendant intellects, to unseen realities in the : 
world of spirits ; where mind communes with mind, and soul 



PREFACE. VII 

mingles with soul, disenthraled from error, and embosomed 
in the light and love of the Great Parent Intellect. 

The author does not pretend to give a system of exposi- 
tion in this work suited to the capacities of small children. 
It is designed for advanced scholars, and is introductory to 
a system of grammar which he has in preparation, which 
it is humbly hoped will be of some service in rendering easy 
and correct the study of our vernacular language. But 
this book, it is thought, may be successfully employed m 
the instruction of the higher classes in our schools, and will 
be found an efficient aid to teachers in inculcating the sub- 
lime principles of which it treats. 

These Lectures, as now presented to the public, it 
is believed, will be found to contain some important infor- 
mation by which all may profit. The reader will bear in 
mind that they were written for, and delivered before a pop- 
ular audience, and published with very little time for modi- 
fication. This will be a sufficient apology for the mistakes 
which may occur, and for whatever may have the appear- 
ance of severity, irony, or pleasantly, in the composition. 

On the subject of Contractions much more might be said. 
But verbal criticisms are rather uninteresting to a common 
audience ; and hence the consideration of that matter was 
made more brief than was at first intended. It will how- 
ever be resumed and carried out at length in another work. 
The hints given will enable the student to form a tolerable 
correct opinion of the use of most of those words and phrases, 



VUl PKEPACE. 

which have long been passed over with little knowledge of 
their meaning or importance. 

The author is aware that the principles he has advocated 
are new and opposed to established systems and the common 
method of inculcation. But the difficulties acknowledged 
on all hands to exist, is a sufficient justification of this hum- 
ble attempt. He will not be condemned for his good inten-^ 
tions. All he asks is a patient and candid examination^ 
a frank and honest approval of what is true, and as honest a 
rejection of what is false. But he hopes the reader will 
avoid a rash and precipitate conclusion, either for or against, 
lest he is compelled to do as the author himself once did, 
approve what he had previously condemned. 

With these remarks he enters the arena, and bares him- 
self to receive the sentence of the public voice. 



CONTENTS 



LECTURE I. 

GENERAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE. 

Study of Language long considered difficult. — Its importance. 
— Errors in teaching. — Not understood by Teachers. — At- 
tachment to old systems. — Improvement preferable. — The 
subject important. — Its advantages. — Principles laid down. 
— Orthography. — Etymology. — Syntax. — Prosody. 12 

LECTURE IL 

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

General principles of Language. — Business of Grammar. — 
Children are Philosophers. — Things, ideas, and words. — Ac- 
tions. — Qualities of things. — Words without ideas. — Gram- 
raatical terms inappropriate. — Principles of Language per- 
manent. — Errors in mental science. — Facts admit of no 
change. — Complex ideas. — Ideas of qualities. — An example. 
— New ideas. — Unknown words. — Signs without things sig- 
nified. — Fixed laws regulate matter and mind. 21 

LECTURE III. 

WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE. 

Principles never alter. — They should be known. — Grammar a 
most important branch of science. — Spoken and written 
Language. — Idea of a thing. — How expressed.— An exam- 
ple. — Picture writing. — An anecdote. — Ideas expressed by 
actions. — Principles of spoken and written Language. — Ap- 
ply universally. — Two examples. — English language. — For- 
eign words. — Words in science. — New words. — How formed. 35 



J. CONTENTS. 

LECTURE IV. 

ON NOUNS. 

Nouns defined. — Things. — Qualities of matter. — Mind. — Spir- 
itual beings. — Qualities of mind. — How learned. — Imaginary 
things. — Negation. — Names of actions. — Proper nouns. — 
Characteristic names. — Proper nouns may become common. 46 

LECTURE V. 

ON NOUNS AMD PRONOUNS. 

Nouns in respect to persons. — Number.— Singular. — Plural. — 
How formed. — Foreign plurals. — Proper names admit of 
plurals. — Gender. — No neuter. — In figurative language. — 
Errors. — Position or case. — Agents. — Objects. — Possessive 
case considered. — A definitive word. — Pronouns. — One kind. 
— Originally nouns. — Specifically applied. 54 

LECTURE VI. 

ON ADJECTIVES. 

Definition of adjectives. — General character. — Derivation. — 
How understood. — Defining and describing. — Meaning chan- 
ges to suit the noun. — Too numerous. — Derived from nouns. 
— Nouns and verbs made from adjectives. — Foreign adjec- 
tives. — A general list. — Difficult to be understood. — An ex- 
ample. — Often superfluous. — Derived from verbs. — Partici- 
ples. — Some prepositions. — Meaning unknown. — With. — In. 

—Out.— Of es 

LECTURE VII. 

ON ADJECTIVES. 

Adjectives. — How formed. — The syllable ly. — Formed froxi 
proper nouns. — The apostrophe and letter s. — Derived from 
pronouns. — Articles. — A comes from an. — ^/wdefinite. — The. 
— Meaning of a and the.- — Murray's example. — That. — 
What. — '" Pronoun adjectives." — Mon, ma.— Degrees of com- 
parison. — Secondary adjectives, — ^Pre|>ositions adm^it of com- 
parison. 90 



CONTENTS. *l 

LECTURE VIII. 

ON VERBS. 

Unpleasant to expose error. — Verbs defined. — Every thing 
acts. — Actor and object. — Laws. — Man. — Animals. — Vege- 
tables. — Minerals. — Neutrality degrading. — Nobody can ex- 
plain a neuter verb. — One kind of verbs. — You must decide. 
— Importance of teaching children the truth. — Active verbs. 
— Transitive verbs false. — Samples. — Neuter verbs exam- 
ined.— Sit. — Sleep.— Stand. — Lie. — Opinion of Mrs. W.— 
Anecdote. m 

LECTURE IX. 

ON VERBS. 

Neuter and intransitive .-^Agents. — Objects. — No actions as 
such can be known distinct from the agent. — Imaginary 
actions. — Actions known by their effects. — Examples. — 
Signs should guide to things signified. — Principles of action. 
— Power. — Animals. — Vegetables.— Minerals. — All things 
act. — Magnetic needle. — Cause. — Explained. — First Cause. 
— Means. — Illustrated. — Sir I. Newton's example. — These 
principles must be known. — Relative action. — Anecdote of 
Gallileo. 131 

LECTURE X. 

ON verbs. 

A philosophical axiom.— Manner of expressing action. — Things 
taken for granted. — Simple facts must be known. — Must 
never deviate from the truth. — Every cause will have an 
effect, — An example of an intransitive verb. — Objects ex- 
pressed or implied, — All language eliptieal.— Intransitive 
verbs examined. — I run. — 1 walk. — To step.— Birds fly. — 
It rains. — The fire burns. — The sun shines. — To smile. — 
Eat and drink. — Miscellaneous examples. — Evils of false 
teaching. — A change is demanded.— These principles apply 
universally. — Their importance. 157 



CONTENTS. 
LECTURE XI. 



ON 

The verb to be. — Compounded of different radical words. — Am. 
— Defined. — The name of Deity. — Ei. — Is. — Are. — ^Were, 
WAS. — Be. — A dialogue. — Examples. — Passive Verbs exam- 
ined. — Cannot be in the present tense. — The past participle 
is an adjective. 181 

LECTURE XII. 



ON VERBS. 



Mood.— Indicative.— Imperative. — Infinitive—Former distinc- 

tions. — Subjunctive mood.— -Time Past.- — Present Fu- 

ture. — The future explained. — How formed. — Mr. Murray's 
distinction of time.— Imperfect. — Pluperfect. — Second fu- 
ture.^ — How many tenses. — Auxiliary Verbs. — W^ill. — 
Shall.— May.— Must.— Can.— Do.— Have. 196 

LECTURE XIII. 

ON VERBS. 

Person and number in the agent, not in the action. — Similarity 
of agents, actions, and objects. — Verbs made from nouns. — 
Irregular verbs. — Some examples. — ^^Regular Verbs. — Ed. — 
Ing. — Conjugation of Vei"bs. — To love. — To have. — To be.— 
The mdicative mood varied. — A whole sentence may be 
agent or object. — Imperative mood. — Infinitive mood. — Is 
always future. 215 

LECTURE XIV. 

ON CONTRACTIONS. 

A temporary expedient. — ^Words not understood. — All words . 
must have a meaning. — Their formation. — Changes of mean- 
ing and form. — Should be observed. — Adverbs. — Ending in 
ly. — Examples. — Ago. — Astray. — Awake. — Asleep — Then, 
when. — There, where, here.— While, till. — Whether, togeth- 

er. — Ever, never, whenever, etc. Oft. — Hence. — Perhaps. 

— Not. — Or. — Nor. — Than. — • As. — So. — Conjunctions. — 
Rule 18.— If.— But.— Tho.— Yet. 234 



LECTURES ON LANGUAGE. 



LECTURE I. 

GENERAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE. 

Study of Language long considered difficult. — Its importance. — 
Errors in teaching. — Not understood by Teachers. — Attachment 
to old systems. — Improvement preferable. — The subject import- 
ant. — Its advantages. — Principles laid down. — Orthography. — 
E tymology . — Syntax . — Prosody. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is proposed to commence, this evening, a course of 
Lectures on the Grammar of the English Language. I am 
aware of the difficulties attending this subject, occasioned 
not so much by any fault in itself, as by the thousand and 
one methods adopted to teach it, the multiplicity of books 
pretending to " simplify" it, and the vast contrariety of opin- 
ion entertained by those who profess to be its masters. By 
many it has been considered a needless affair, an unneces- 
sary appendage to a common education ; by others, alto- 
gether beyond the reach of common capacities ; and by all, 
cold, lifeless, and uninteresting, full of doubts and perplexi- 
ties, where the wisest have differed, and the firmest oflen 
changed opinions. 



14 GENERAL VIEW OF LANGtTAGE. 

All this difficulty originates, I apprehend, in the wrong 
view that is taken of the subject. The most beautiful land- 
scape may appear at great disadvantage, if viewed from an 
unfavorable position. I would be slow to believe that the 
means on which depends the whole business of the commu- 
nity, the study of the sciences, all improvement upon the 
past, the history of all nations in all ages of the world, social 
intercourse, oral or written, and, in a great measure, the 
knowledge of God, and the hopes of immortality, can be 
either unworthy of study, or, if rightly explained, uninter- 
esting in the acquisition. In fact, on the principles I am 
about to advocate, I have seen the deepest interest mani- 
fested, from the small child to the grey-headed sire, from 
the mere novice to the statesman and philosopher, and all 
alike seemed to be edified and improved by the attention be- 
stowed upon the subject. 

I confess, however, that with the mention ot grammar, an 
association of ideas are called up by no means agreeable. 
The mind involuntarily reverts to the days of childhood, 
when we were compelled, at the risk of our bodily safety, 
to commit to memory a set of arbitrary rules, which we 
could neither understand nor apply in the correct use of lan- 
guage. Formerly it was never dreamed that grammar de- 
pended on any higher authority than the books put into our 
hands. And learners were not only dissuaded, but strictly 
forbidden to go beyond the limits set them in the etymolo- 
gical and syntactical rules of the authors to whom they 
were referred. If a query ever arose in their minds, and 
they modestly proposed a plain question as to the why and 
wherefore things were thus, instead of giving an answer ac- 
cording to common sense, in a way to be understood, the 
authorities were pondered over, till some rule or remark 



ERRORS IN TEACHING. IMPROVEMENT. 15 

could be found which would apply, and this settled the mat- 
ter with " proof as strong as holy writ." In this way an 
end may be put to the inquiry ; but the thinking mind will 
hardly be satisfied with the mere opinion of another, who 
has no evidence to afford, save the undisputed dignity of his 
station, or the authority of books. This course is easily ac- 
counted for. Rather than expose his own ignorance, the 
teacher quotes the printed ignorance of others, thinking, no 
doubt, that folly and nonsense will appear better second- 
handed,^ than fresh from his own responsibility. Or else on 
the more common score, that " misery loves company." 

Teachers have not unfrequently found themselves placed in 
an unenviable position by the honest inquiries of some think- 
ing urchin, who has demanded why " one noun governs an- 
other in the possessive case," as "master's slave;" why 
there are more tenses than three ; what is meant by a neu- 
ter verb, which " signifies neither action nor passion ;" or 
an " intransitive verb," which expresses the highest possible 
action, but terminates on no object ; a cause without an ef- 
fect ; why that is sometimes a pronoun, sometimes an ad- 
jective, and not unfrequently a conjunction, &c. &;c. They 
may have succeeded, by dint of official authority, in silenc- 
ing such inquiries, but they have failed to give a satisfactory 
answer to the questions proposed. 

Long received opinions may, in some cases, become law, 
pleading no other reason than antiquity. But this is an age 
of investigation, which demands the most lucid and unequiv- 
ocal proof of the point assumed. The dogmatism of the 
schoolmen will no longer satisfy. The dark ages of men- 
tal servility are passing away. The day light of science 
has long since dawned upon the world, and the noon day of 
truth, reason, and virtue, will ere long be established on a 



16 GENERAL VIEW OP LANGUAGE. 

firm and immutable basis. The human mind, left free to 
investigate, will gradually advance onward in the course of 
knowledge and goodness marked out by the Creator, till it 
attains to that perfection which shall constitute its highest 
glory, its truest bliss. 

You will perceive, at once, that our inquiries thr© out 
these lectures will not be bounded by what has been said or 
written on the subject. We take a wider range.' We adopt 
no sentiment because it is ancient or popular. We refer to 
no authority but what proves itself to be correct. And we 
ask no one to adopt our opinions any farther than they 
agree with the fixed laws of nature in the regulation of 
matter and thought, and apply in common practice among 
men. 

Have we not a right to expect, in return, that you will be 
equally honest to yourselves and the subject before us ? So 
far as the errors of existing systenfig shall be exposed, will 
you not reject tbem, and adopt whatever appears conclu- 
sively true and practically useful ? Will you, can you, be 
satisfied to adopt for yourselves and teach to others, sys- 
tems of grammar, for no other reason than because they 
are old, and claim the support of the learned and honora- 
ble ? 

Such a course, generally adopted, would give the ever- 
lasting quietus to all improvement. It would be a practical 
adoption of the philosophy of the Dutchman, who was con- 
tent to carry his grist in one end of the sack and a stone to 
balance it in the other, assigning for a reason, that his hon- 
ored father had always done so before him. Who would 
be content to adopt the astrology of the ancients, in prefer- 
ance to astronomy as now taught, because the latter is more 
modern ] Who would spend three years in transcribing a 



ITS IMPORTANCE. 17 

copy of the Bible, when a better could be obtained for one 
dollar, because manuscripts were thus procured in former 
times 1 What lady would prefer to take her cards, wheel, 
and loom, and spend a month or two in manufacturing for 
herself a dress, when a better could be earned in half the 
time, merely because her respected grandmother did so be- 
fore her ? Who would go back a thousand years to find a 
model for society, rejecting all improvements in the arts 
and sciences, because they are innovations, encroachments 
upon the opinions and practices of learned and honorable 
men ? 

I can not believe there is a person in this respected audi- 
ence whose mind is in such voluntary slavery as to induce 
the adoption of such a course. I see before me minds which 
sparkle in every look, and thoughts which are ever active, 
to acquire what is true, and adopt what is useful. And 1 
flatter myself that the time spent in the investigation of the 
science of language will not be unpleasant or unprofitable. 

I feel the greater confidence from the consideration that 
your minds are yet untrammeled ; not but what many, 
probably most of you, have already studied the popular sys- 
tems of grammar, and understood them ; if such a thing is 
possible ; but because you have shown a disposition to learn, 
by becoming members of this Institute, the object of which 
is the improvement of its members. 

Let us therefore make an humble attempt, with all due 
candor and discretion, to enter upon the inquiry before us 
with an unflinching determination to push our investigations 
beyond all reasonable doubt, and never rest satisfied till we 
have conquered all conquerable obstacles, and come into 
the possession of the light and liberty of truth. 



18 GENERAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE. . 

The attempt here made will not be considered unimport- 
ant, by those who have known the difficulties attending the 
study of language. If any course can be marked out to 
shorten the time tediously spent in the acquisition of what is 
rarely attained — a thoro knowledge of language — a great 
benefit will result to the community ; children will save 
months and years to engage in other useful attainments, 
and the high aspirations of the mind for truth and know- 
ledge will not be curbed in its first efforts to improve by a 
set of technical and arbitrary rules. They will acquire a 
habit of thinking, of deep reflection ; and never adopt, for 
fact, what appears unreasonable or inconsistent, merely be- 
cause great or good men have said it is so. They will feel 
an independence of their own, and adopt a course of in- 
vestigation which cannot fail of the most important con- 
sequences. It is not the saving of time, however, for 
which we propose a change in the system of teaching lan- 
guage. In this respect, it is the study of one's life. New 
facts are constantly developing themselves, new combina- 
tions of ideas and words are discovered, and new beauties 
presented at every advancing step. It is to acquire a know- 
ledge of correct principles, to induce a habit of correct 
thinking, a freedom of investigation, and at that age when the 
character and language of life are forming. It is, in short, 
to exhibit before you truth of the greatest practical import- 
ance, not only to you, but to generations yet unborn, in the 
most essential affairs of human life, that I have broached 
the hated subject of grammar, and undertaken to reflect 
light upon this hitherto dark and disagreeable subject. 

With a brief sketch of the outlines of language, as based 
on the fixed laws of nature, and the agreement of those 
who employ it, I shall conclude the present lecture. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 19 

We shall consider all language as governed by the inva- 
riable laws of nature, and as depending on the conventional 
regulations of men. 

Words are the signs of ideas. Ideas are the impressions 
of things. Hence, in all our attempts to investigate the im- 
portant principles of language, we shall employ the sign as 
the means of coming at the thing signified. 

Language has usually been considered under four divi- 
sions, viz. : Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Pro- 
sody. 

Orthography is right spelling ; the combination of certain 
letters into words in such a manner as to agree with the 
spoken words used to denote an idea. We shall not labor 
this point, altho we conceive a great improvement might be 
effected in this department of learning. My only wish is to 
select from all the forms of spelling, the most simple and 
consistent. Constant changes are taking place in the method 
of making words, and we would not refuse to cast in our 
mite to make the standard more correct and easy. We 
would prune off by degrees all unnecessary appendages, as 
unsounded or italic letters, and write out words so as to be 
capable of a distinct pronunciation. But this change must 
be gradually effected. From the spelling adopted two cen- 
turies ago, a wonderful improvement has taken place. 
And we have not yet gone beyond the possibility of im- 
provement. Let us not be too sensitive on this point, nor 
too tenacious of old forms. Most of our dictionaries differ 
in many respects in regard to the true system of orthogra- 
phy, and our true course is to adopt every improvement 
which is offered. Thro out this work we shall spell some 
words different from what is customary, but intend not, 
thereby, to incur the ignominy of bad spellers. Let small 



20 GENERAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE. 

improvements be adopted, and our language may soon be 
redeemed from the difficulties which have perplexed be- 
ginners in their first attempts to convey ideas by written 
words. * 

In that department of language denominated Etymology, 
we shall contend that all words are reducible to two gene- 
ral classes, nouns and verbs ; or, things and actions. We 
shall, however, admit of subdivisions, and treat of pronouns, 
adjectives, and contractions. We shall contend for only 
two cases of nouns, one kind of pronouns, one kind of verbs, 
that all are active ; three modes, and as many tenses ; that 
articles, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjec- 
tions, have no distinctive character, no existence, in fact, to 
warrant a " local habitation or a name." 

In the composition of sentences, a few general rules of 
S5''ntax may be given ; but the principal object to be ob- 
tained, is the possession of correct ideas derived from a 
knowledge of things, and the most approved words to ex- 
press them ; the combination of words in a sentence will 
readily enough follow. 

Prosody relates to the quantity of syllables, rules of ac- 
cent and pronunciation, and the arrangement of syllables 
and words so as to produce harmony. It applies specially 
to versification. As our object is not to make poets, who, 
it is said, " are born, and not made," but to teach the true 
principles of language, we shall give no attention to this fin- 
ishing stroke of composition. 

In our next we shall lay before you the principles upon 

which all language depends, and the process by which its 

use is to be acquired. 

*The reader is referred to " The Red Book," by William Bear, 
croft, revised by Daniel H. Barnes, late of the New- York High 
School, as a correct system of teaching practical orthography. 



LECTURE II. 



FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

General principles of Language. — Business of Grammar. — Children 
are Philosophers. — Things, ideas, and words. — Actions, — Quali- 
ties of things. — Words without ideas. — Grammatical terms inap- 
propriate. — Principles of Language permanent. — Errors in men- 
tal science. — Facts admit of no change. — Complex ideas. — Ideas 
of qualities. — An example. — New ideas. — Unknown words. — 
Signs without things signified. — Fixed laws regulate matter and 
mind. 

All language depends on two general principles. 

Mrsi. The fixed and unvarying laws of nature which 
regulate matter and mind. 

Second. The agreement of those who use it. 

In accordance with these principles all language must be 
explained. It is not only needless but impossible for us to 
deviate from them. They remain the same in all ages and 
in all countries. It should be the object of the gramma- 
rian, and of all who employ language in the expression of 
ideas, to become intimately acquainted with their use. 

It is the business of grammar to explain, not only ver- 
bal language, but also the sublime principles upon which all 
written or spoken language depends. It forms an important 
part of physical and mental science, which, correctly ex- 
plained, is abundantly simple and extensively useful in its 
apphcation to the affairs of human Hfe and the promotion of 
human enjoyment, 



22 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

It will not be contended that we are assunaing a position 
beyond the capacities of learners, that the course here adopt- 
ed is too philosophic. Such is not the fact. Children are phi- 
losophers by nature. All their ideas are derived from things 
as presented to their observations. No mother learns 
her child to lisp the name of a thing which has no being, 
but she chooses objects with which it is most familiar, 
and which are most constantly before it ; such as father, 
mother, brother, sister. 

She constantly points to the object named, that a dis- 
tinct impression may be made upon its mind, and the thing 
signified, the idea of the thing, and the name which repre- 
sents it, are all inseparably associated together. If the father 
is absent, the child may think of him from the idea or im- 
pression which his person and affection has produced in the 
mind. If the mother pronounces his name with which it has 
become familiar, the child will start, look about for the ob- 
ject, or thing signified by the name, father, and not being 
able to discover him, will settle down contented with the 
idea of him deeply impressed on the mind, and as distinctly 
understood as if the father was present in person. So with 
every thing else. 

Again, after the child has become familiar with the name 
of the being called father ; the name, idea and object itself 
being intimately associated the mother will next begin to 
teach it another lesson ; following most undeviatingly the 
course which nature and true philosophy mark out. The 
father comes and goes, is present or absent. She says on 
his return, father come, and the little one looks round to see 
the thing signified by the word father, the idea of which is 
distinctly impressed on the mind, and which it now sees pre- 
sent before it. But this loved object has not always been 



THINGS. ACTIONS. QUALITIES. 23 

here. It had looked round and called for the father. But 
the mother had told it ?ie was gone. Father gone, father 
come, is her language, and here the child begins to learn 
ideas of actions. Of this it had, at first, no notion whatever, 
and never thought of the father except when his person 
was present before it, for no impressions had been distinctly 
made upon the mind which could be called up by a sound 
of which it could have no conceptions whatever. Now 
that it has advanced so far, the. idea of the father is retained, 
even tho he is himself absent, and the child begins to associ- 
ate the notion of coming and going with his presence or ab- 
sence. Following out this course the mind becomes ac- 
quainted with things and actions, or the changes which 
things undergo. 

Next, the mother begins to learn her offspring the dis- 
tinction and qualities of things. When the little sister 
comes to it in innocent playfulness the mother says, "good 
sister," and with the descriptive word good it soon begins to 
associate the quality expressed by the affectionate regard, 
of its sister. But when that sister strikes the child, or pes- 
ters it in any way, the mother says " naughty sister," " bad 
sister." It soon comprehends the descriptive words, good 
and badj and along with them carries the association of ideas 
which such conduct produces. In the same way it learns 
to distinguish the difference between great and small, cold 
and hot, hard and soft. 

In this manner the child becomes acquainted with the 
use of language. It first becomes acquainted with things, 
the idea of which is left upon the mind, or, more properly, 
the impression of which, left on the mind, constitutes the 
idea ; and a vocabulary of words are learned, which repre- 
sent these ideas, from which it may select those best calcu- 



^4 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

lated to express its meaning whenever a conversation is 
had with another. 

You will readily perceive the correctness of our first 
proposition, that all language depends on the fixed and un- 
erring laws of nature. Things exist. A knowledge of 
them produces ideas in the mind, and sounds or signs are 
adopted as vehicles to convey these ideas from one to 
another. 

It would be absurd and ridiculous to suppose that any 
person, however great, or learned, or wise, could employ 
language correctly without a knowledge of the things ex- 
pressed by that language. No matter how chaste his words, 
how lofty his phrases, how sweet the intonations, or mellow 
the accents. It would avail him nothing if ideas were not 
represented thereby. It would all be an unknown tongue 
to the hearer or reader. It would not be like the loud 
rolling thunder, for that tells the wondrous power of God. 
It would not be like the soft zephyrs of evening, the radi- 
ance of the sun, the twinkling of the stars ; for they speak 
the intelligible language of sublimity itself, and tell of the 
kindness and protection of our Father who is in heaven. 
It would not be like the sweet notes of the choral songsters 
of the grove, for they warble hymns of gratitude to God ; 
not Hke the boding of the distant owl, for that tells the pro- 
found solemnity of night ; not like the hungry lion roaring 
for his prey, for that tells of death and plunder ; not like 
the distant notes of the clarion, for that tells of blood and 
cai^nage, of tears and anguish, of widowhood and orphan- 
age. It can be compared to nothing but a Babel of confu- 
sion in which their own folly is worse confounded. And 
yet, I am sorry to say it, the languages of all ages and na* 
tions have been too frequently perverted, and compiled into 



GRAMMATICAL TERMS INAPPROPRIATE. 25 

a heterogeneous mass of abstruse, metaphysical volumes, 
whose only recommendation is the elegant bindings in which 
they are enclosed. 

And grammars themselves, whose pretended object is to 
teach the rules of speaking and writing correctly, form but 
a miserable exception to this sweeping remark. 1 defy any 
grammarian, author, or teacher of the numberless systems, 
which come, like the frogs of Egypt, all of one genus, to 
cover the land, to give a reasonable explanation of even the 
terms they employ to define their meaning, if indeed, mean- 
ing they have. What is meant by an " m-definite article," 
a dis-']unctive con-junction, an ad-\erh which qualifies an 
adjective, and " sometimes another ad-\erh ?" Such " parts of 
speech" have no existence in fact, and their adoption in rules 
of grammar, have been found exceedingly mischievous and 
perplexing. " Adverbs and conjunctions," and " adverbial 
phrases," and "conjunctive expressions," may serve as com- 
mon sewers for a large and most useful class of words, 
which the teachers of grammar and lexicographers have 
been unable to explain ; but learners will gain little informa- 
tion by being told that such is an adverbial phrase, and 
such, a conjunctive expression. This is an easy method, I 
confess, a sort of wholesale traffic, in parsing (passing) lan- 
guage, and may serve to cloak the ignorance of the teach- 
ers and makers of grammars. But it will reflect little light 
on the principles of language, or prove very efficient helps 
to " speak or write with propriety." Those who think, will 
demand the meaning of these words, and the reason of their 
use. When that is ascertained, little difficulty will be found 
in giving them a place in the company of respectable words. 
But I am digressing. More shall be said upon this point in 
a future lecture, and in its proper place. 
c 



26 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

1 was endeavoring to establish the position that all lan- 
guage depends upon permanent principles ; that words are 
the signs of ideas, and ideas are the impressions of things 
communicated to the mind thro the medium of some one of 
the five senses. I think I have succeeded so far as simple 
material things are concerned, to the satisfaction of all who 
have heard me. It may, perhaps, be more difficult for me 
to explain the words employed to express complex ideas, 
and things of immateriality, such as mind, and its attributes. 
But the rules previously adopted will, I apprehend, apply 
with equal ease and correctness in this case ; and we shall 
have cause to admire the simple yet sublime foundation up- 
on which the whole superstructure of language is based. 

In pursuing this investigation I shall endeavor to avoid 
all abstruse and metaphysical reasoning, present no wild 
conjectures, or vain hypotheses ; but confine myself to plain, 
common place matter of fact. We have reason to rejoice 
that a wonderful improvement in the science and cultivation 
of the mind has taken place in these last days ; that we are 
no longer puzzled with the strange phantoms, the wild spec- 
ulations which occupied the giant minds of a Descartes, a 
Malebranch, a Locke, a Reid, a Stewart, and hosts of oth- 
ers, whose shining talents would have qualified them for the 
brightest ornaments of literature, real benefactors of man. 
kind, had not their education lead them into dark and meta- 
physical reasonings, a continued tissue of the wildest vaga- 
ries, in which they became entangled, till, at length, they 
were entirely lost in the labyrinth of their own conjectures. 

The occasion of all their difficulty originated in an attempt 
to investigate the faculties of the mind without any means 
of getting at it. They did not content themselves with an 
adoption of the principles which lay at the foundation of all 



ERRORS IN MENTAL SCIENCE. 27 

true philosophy, viz., that the facts to be accounted for, do 
exist ; that truth is eternal, and we are to become acquainted 
with it by the means employed for its development. They 
quitted the world of materiality they inhabited, refused to 
examine the development of mind as the effect of an exist- 
ing cause;. and at one bold push, entered the world of 
thought, and made the unhallowed attempt to reason, a pri- 
ori, concerning things which can only be known by their 
manifestations. But they soon found themselves in a strange 
land, confused with sights and sounds unknown, in the ex- 
planation of which they, of course, choose terms as unin- 
telligible to their readers, as the ideal realities were to them. 
This course, adopted by Aristotle, has been too closely fol- 
lowed by those who have come after him.* But a new era 
has dawned upon the philosophy of the mind, and a corres- 
ponding change in tlie method of inculcating the principles 
of language must follow.f 

In all our investigations we must take things as we find 

* Gall, Spurzbeim, and Combe, have reflected a light upon the 
science of the mind, which cannot fail of beneficial results. Tho 
the doctrines of phrenology, as now taught, may prove false — which 
is quite doubtful — or receive extensive modifications, yet the conse- 
quences to the philosophy of the mind will be vastly useful. The 
very terms employed to express the faculties and affections of the 
mind, are so definite and clear, that phrenology will long deserve 
peculiar regard, if for no other reason than for the introduction of a 
vocabulary, from which may be selected words for the communica- 
lion of ideas upon intellectual subjects. 

t Metaphysics originally signified the science of the causes and 
principles of all things. Afterwards it was confined to the philoso- 
pliy of the mind. In our times it has obtained still another mean- 
ing. Metaphysicians became so abstruse, bewildced, and lost, that 
nobody could understand them ; and hence, metaphysical is now 
applied to whatever is abstruse, doubtful, and unintelligible. If a 
speaker is not understood, it is because he is too metaphysical. 
" How did you like the sermon, yesterday ?" " Tolerably well ; but 
he was too metaphysical for common hearers." They could not un- 
derstand him. 



28 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIi*LES OF LANGUAGE. 

them, and account for them as far as we can. It would be a 
thankless task to attempt a change of principles in any thing. 
That would be an encroachment of the Creator's rights. It 
belongs to mortals to use the things they have as not abus- 
ing them ; and to Deity to regulate the laws by which those 
things are governed. And that man is the wisest, the truest 
philosopher, and brightest christian, who acquaints himself 
with those laws as they do exist in the regulation of matter 
and mind, in the promotion of physical and moral enjoy- 
ment, and endeavors to conform to them in all his thoughts 
and actions. 

From this apparent digression you will at once discover 
our object. We must not endeavor to change the princi- 
ples of language, but to understand and explain them ; to 
ascertain, as far as possible, the actions of the mind in ob- 
taining ideas, and the use of language in expressing them. 
We may not be able to make our sentiments understood ; 
but if they are not, the fault will originate in no obscurity 
in the facts themselves, but in our inability either to under- 
stand them or the words employed in their expression. Hav- 
ing been in the habit of using words with either no mean- 
ing or a wrong one, it may be difficult to comprehend the 
subject of which they treat. A man may have a quantity 
of sulphur, charcoal, and nitre, but it is not until he learns 
their properties and combinations that he can make gun- 
powder. Let us then adopt a careful and independent course 
of reasoning, resolved to meddle with nothing we do not un- 
derstand, and to use no words until we know their mean- 
ing. 

A complex idea is a combination of several simple ones, 
as a tree is made up of roots, a trunk, branches, twigs, and 
leaves. And these again may be divided into the wood. 



COMPLEX IDEAS. 29 

the bark, the sap, &c. Or we may employ the botanical 
terms, and enumerate its external and internal parts and 
qualities ; the whole anatomy and physiology, as well as 
variety and history of trees of that species, and show its 
characteristic distinctions ; for the mind receives a different 
impression on looking at a maple, a birch, a poplar, a tam- 
arisk, a sycamore, or hemlock. In this way complex ideas 
are formed, distinct in their parts, but blended in a common 
whole ; and, in conformity with the law regulating language, 
words, sounds or signs, are employed to express the com- 
plex whole, or each distinctive part. The same may be 
said of all things of like character. But this idea I will 
illustrate more at large before the close of this lecture. 

First impressions are produced by a view of material 
things, as we have already seen ; and the notion of action 
is obtained from a knowledge of the changes these things 
undergo. The idea of quality and definition is produced by 
contrast and comparison. Children soon learn the differ- 
ence between a sweet apple and a sour one, a white rose 
and a red one, a hard seat and a soft one, harmonious sounds 
and those that are discordant, a pleasant smell and one 
that is disagreeable. As the mind advances, the appli- 
cation is varied, and they speak of a sweet rose, changing 
from taste and sight to smell, of a sweet song, of a hard ap- 
pie, &c. According to the qualities thus learned, you may 
talk to them intelligibly of the sweetness of an apple, the 
color of a rose, the hardness of iron, the harmony of sounds, 
the smell or scent of things which possess that quality. As 
these agree or disagree with their comfort, they will call 
them good or had, and speak of the qualities of goodness and 
badness, as if possessed by the thing itself. 
c* 



30 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

In this apparently indiscriminate use of words, the ideas 
remain distinct ; and each sign or object calls them up sep- 
arately and associates them together, till, at length, in the 
single object is associated all the ideas entertained of its size, 
qualities, relations, and affinities. 

In this manner, after long, persevering toil, principles of 
thought are fixed, and a foundation laid for the whole course 
of future thinking and speaking. The ideas become less 
simple and distinct. Just as fast as the mind advances in the 
knowledge of things, language keeps pace with the ideas, 
and even goes beyond them, so that in process of time as in- 
gle term will not unfrequenly represent a complexity of 
ideas, one of which will signify a whole combination of 
things. 

On the other hand, there are many instances where the 
single declaration of a fact may convey to the untutored 
mind, a single thought or nearly so, when the better culti- 
vated will take into the account the whole process by 
which it is effected. To illustrate : a man killed a deer. 
Here the boy would see and imagine more than he is yet 
fully able to comprehend. He will see the obvious fact that 
the man levels his musket, the gun goes off with a loud re- 
port, and the deer falls and dies. How this is all produced 
he does not understand, but knowing the fact he asserts the 
single truth — the man killed the deer. As the child advances, 
he will learn that the sentence conveys to the mind more 
than he at first perceived. He now understands how it was 
accomplished. The man had a gun. Then he must go 
back to the gunsmith and see how it was made, thence back 
to the iron taken from its bed, and wrought into bars ; all 
the processes by which it is brought into the shape of a gun, 
the tools and machinery employed ; the wood for the stock, 



AN EXAMPLE. 31 

its quality and production ; the size, form and color of the 
lock, the principle upon which it moves ; the flint, the effect 
produced by a collision with the steel, or a percussion cap, 
and its composition ; till he finds a single gun in the hands of 
a man. The man is present with this gun. The motives 
which brought him here ; the movements of his limbs, regu- 
lated by the determinations of the mind, and a thousand 
other such thoughts, might be taken into the account. Then 
the deer, his size, form, color, manner of Hving, next may 
claim a passing thought. But I need not enlarge. Here 
they both stand. The man has just seen the deer. As 
quick as thought his eye passes over the ground, sees the 
prey is within proper distance, takes aim, pulls the trigger, 
that loosens a spring, which forces the flint against the steel ; 
this produces a spark, which ignites the charcoal, and the 
sulphur and nitre combined, explode and force the wad, 
which forces the ball from the gun, arid is borne thro the 
air till it reaches the deer, enters his body by displacing the 
skin and flesh, deranges the animal functions, and death en- 
sues. The whole and much more is expressed in the single 
phrase, " a man killed a deer." 

It would be needless for me to stop here, and examine all 
the operations of the mind in coming at this state of know- 
ledge. That is not the object of the present work. Such 
a duty belongs to another treatise, which may some day be 
undertaken, on logic and the science of the mind. The hint 
here given will enable you to perceive how the mind ex- 
pands, and how language keeps pace with every advancing 
step, and, also, how combinations are made from simple 
things, as a house is made of timber, boards, shingles, nails, 
and paints ; or of bricks, stone, and mortar ; as the case 
may be, and when completed, a single term may express 



32 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

the idea, and you speak of a wood, or a brick house. Fol- 
lowing this suggestion, by tracing the operations of the 
mind in the young child, or your own, very minutely, in the 
acquisition of any knowledge before wholly unknown to you, 
as a new language, or a new science ; botany, mineralogy, 
chemistry, or phrenology ; you will readily discover how 
the mind receives new impressions of things, and a new vo- 
cabulary is adopted to express the ideas formed of plants, 
minerals, chemical |iroperties, and the development of the 
capacities of the mihd as depending on material organs ; 
how these things are changed and combined ; and how their 
existence and qualities, changes and combinations, are ex- 
pressed by words, to be retained, or conveyed to other minds. 

But suppose you talk to a person wholly unacquainted 
with these things, will he understand you? Talk to him of 
stamens, pistils, calyxes ; of monandria, diandria, triandria ; 
of gypsum, talc, calcareous spar, quartz, topaz, mica, gar- 
net, pyrites, hornblende, augite, actynolite ; of hexahedral, 
prismatic, rhomboidal, dodecahedral ; of acids and alkalies ; 
of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon ; of the config- 
uration of the brain, and its relative powers ; do all this, and 
what will he know of your meaning ? So of all science. 
Words are to be understood from the things they are em- 
ployed to represent. You may as well talk to a man in 
the hebrew, Chinese, or choctaw languages, as in our own, 
if he does not know what is signified by the words selected 
as the medium of thought. 

Your language may be most pure, perfect, full of mean- 
ing, but you cannot make yourself understood till your 
hearers can look thro your signs to the things signified. 
You may as well present before them a picture of nothing. 

The great fault in the popular system of education is 



SIGNS WITHOUT THINGS SIGNIFIED. 33 

easily accounted for, particularly in reference to language. 
Children are taught to study signs without looking at the 
thing signified. In this way they are nnere copyists, and 
the mind can never expand so as to make them independ- 
ent, original thinkers. In fact, they can, in this way, never 
learn to reason well or employ language correctly ; no 
more than a painter can be successful in his art, by merely 
looking at the pictures of others without having ever seen 
the originals. A good artist is a close observer of nature. 
So children should be left free to examine and reflect, and 
the signs will then serve their proper use — the means of 
acquiring the knowledge of things. In vain you may give 
a scholar a knowledge of the Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, 
learn him to translate with rapidity or speak our own Ian- 
guage fluently. If he has not thereby learned the knowledge 
of things signified by such language, he is, in principle, ad- 
vanced no farther than the parrot which says "pretty 
poll, pretty poll." 

I am happy, however, in the consideration that a valua- 
ble change is taking place in this respect. Geography is 
no longer taught on the old systems, but maps are given 
to represent more vividly land and water, rivers, islands, 
and mountains. The study of arithmetic, chemistry, and 
nearly all the sciences have been materially improved with- 
in a few years. Grammar alone remains in quiet possess. 
ion of its unquestioned authority. Its nine "parts of 
speech," its three genders, its three cases, its half dozen 
kinds of pronouns, and as many moods and tenses, have 
rarely been disquieted. A host of book makers have fondled 
around them, but few have dared molest them, finding 
them so snugly ensconced under the sanctity of age, and 
the venerated opinions of learned and good men. Of the 



34 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE. 

numberless attempts to simplify grammar, what has been 
the success ? Wherein do modern " simplifiers" differ from 
Murray? and he was only a compiler! They have all 
discovered his errors. But who has corrected them ? They 
have all deviated somewhat from his manner. But what 
is that but saying, that with all his grammatical knowledge, 
he could not explain his own meaning ? 

All the trouble originates in this ; the rules of grammar 
have not been sought for v/here they are only to be found, 
in the laws that govern matter and thought. Arbitrary rules 
have been adopted which will never apply in practice, ex- 
cept in special cases, and the attempt to bind language down 
to them is as absurd as to undertake to chain thought, or 
stop the waters of Niagarsi, with a straw. Language will 
go on, and keep pace with the mind, and grammar should 
explain it so as to be correctly understood. 

I wish you to keep these principles distinctly in view all 
thro my remarks, that you may challenge every position I 
assume till proved to be correct — till you distinctly under- 
stand it and definite impressions are made upon your minds. 
In this way you will discover a beauty and perfection in 
language before unknown ; its rules will be found few and 
simple, holding with most unyielding tenacity to the sublime 
principles upon which they depend ; and you will have rea- 
son to admire the works and adore the character of the 
great Parent Intellect, whose presence and protection per- 
vade all his works and regulate the laws of matter and 
mind. You will feel yourselves involuntarily filled with 
sentiments of gratitude for the gift of mind, its affections, 
powers, and means of operation and communication, and 
resolved more than ever to employ these faculties in human 
improvement and the advancement of general happiness. 



LECTURE III. 

WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE. 

Principles never alter. — They should be known. — Grammar a most 
important branch of science. — Spoken and written Language. — 
Idea of a thing. — How expressed. — An example. — Pictui-e writ- 
ing. — An anecdote. — Ideas expressed by actions. — Principles of 
spoken and written Language. — Apply universally. — Two exam- 
pies. — English language. — Foreign words. — Words in science. — 
New words. — How formed. 

We now come to take a nearer view of language as gen- 
erally understood by grammar. But we shall have no oc- 
casion to depart from the principles already advanced, for 
there is existing in practice nothing which may not be ac- 
counted for in theory ; as there can be no effect without an 
efficient cause to produce it. 

We may, however, long remain ignorant of the true ex- 
planation of the principles involved; but the fault is ours, 
and not in the things themselves. The earth moved with 
as much grandeur and precision around its axis and in its 
orbit before the days of Gallileo Gallilei, when philosophers 
believed it flat and stationary, as it has done since. So the 
great principles on which depends the existence and use of 
all language are permanent, and may be correctly employed 
by those who have never examined them ; but this does not 
prove that to be ignorant is better than to be wise. We 
may have taken food all our days without knowing much 
of the process by which it is converted into nourishment and 
incorporated into our bodies, without ever having heard of 



36 WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE. 

delutition chymification, chylification, or even digestion, as 
a whole ; but this is far from convincing me that the knowl- 
edge of these things is unimportant, or that ignorance of them 
is not the cause of much disease and suffering among man- 
kind. And it is, or should be, the business of the physiol- 
ogist to explain these things, and show the great practical 
benefit resulting from a general knowledge of them. So 
the grammarian should act as a sort of physiologist of lan- 
guage. He should analyze all its parts and show how it 
is framed together to constitute a perfect whole. 

Instead of exacting of you a blind submission to a set of 
technical expressions, and arbitrary rules, I most urgently 
exhort you to continue, with unremitting assiduity, your in- 
quiries into the reason and propriety of the positions which 
may be taken. It is the business of philosophy, not to 
meddle with things to direct how they should be, but to ac- 
count for them and their properties and relations as they 
are. So it is the business of grammar to explain language 
as it exists in use, and exhibit the reason why it is used 
thus, and what principles must be . observed to employ it 
correctly in speaking and writing. This method is adopted 
to carry out the principles already established, and show 
their adaptation to the wants of the community, and how 
they may be correctly and successfully employed. Gram- 
mar considered in this light forms a department in the sci- 
ence of the mind by no means unimportant. And it can not 
fail to be deeply interesting to all who would employ it in 
the business, social, literary, moral, or rehgious concerns of 
life. Those who have thoughts to communicate, or desire 
an acquaintance with the minds of others, can not be indif- 
ferent to the means on which such intercourse depends. I 
am convinced, therefore, that you will give me your most 



WORDS. — THE SIGNS OF THINGS. 37 

profound attention as I pursue the subject of the present 
lecture somewhat in detail. And I hope you will not con. 
sider me tedious or unnecessarily prolix in my remarks. 

I will not be particular in my remarks upon the changes 
of spoken and written language, ahho that topic of itself, in 
the different sounds and signs employed in different ages 
and by different nations to express the same idea, would 
form a most interesting theme for several lectures. But 
that work must be reserved for a future occasion. You 
are all acquainted with the signs, written and spoken, which 
are employed in our language as vehicles (some of them 
like omnibusses) of thought to carry ideas from one mind 
to another. Some of you doubtless are acquainted with the 
application of this fact in other languages. In other words, 
you know how to sound the name of a thing, how to de- 
scribe its properties as far as you understand them, and its 
attitudes or changes. This you can do by vocal sounds, or 
written, or printed signs. 

On the other hand, you can receive a similar impression 
by hearing the description of another, or by seeing it writ- 
ten or printed. But here you will bear in mind the fact 
that the word, spoken or written, is but the sign of the idea 
derived from the thing signified. For example : Here is 
an apple. I do not now speak of its composition, the skin, 
the pulp, &c. ; nor of its qualities, whether sour, or sweet, 
or bitter, good Or bad, great or small, long or short, round 
or flat, red, or white, or yellow. I speak of a single thing 
— an apple. Here it is, present before you. Look at it. 
It is now removed. You do not see it. Your minds are 
occupied with something else, in looking at that organ, or this 
representation of Solomon's temple, or, perhaps, lingering 
in melancholy review of your old systems of grammar 

D 



38 WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE. 

thro which you plodded at a tedious rate, goaded on by the 
stimulus of the ferule, or the fear of being called ignorant. 
From that unhappy reverie I recal your minds, by saying 
apple. An apple ? where ? There is none in sight. No ; 
but you have distinct recollections of a single object I just 
now held before you. You see it, mentally, and were you 
painters you might paint its likeness. What has brought 
this object so vividly before you ? The single sound apple. 
This sound has called up the idea produced in your mind 
on looking at this object which I now again present before 
you. Here is the thing represented — the apple. Again I 
lay it aside, and commence a conversation with you on the 
varieties of apples, the form, color, flavor, manner of pro- 
duction, their difference from other fruit, where found, when, 
and by whom. Here ! look again. What do you see ? 
A-P-P-L-E — Apple. What is that ? The representation 
of the idea produced in the mind by a certain object you 
saw a little while ago. Here then you have the spoken 
and written signs of this single object I now again present 
to your vision. This idea may also be called up by the 
sense of feeling, smelling, or tasting, under certain restric- 
tions. Here you would be no more liable to be mistaken 
than by seeing. We can indeed imagine things which would 
feel, and smell, and taste, and look some like an apple, but 
it falls to the lot of more abstruse reasoners to make their 
suppositions, and then account for them — to imagine things, 
and then treat of them as realities. We are content with 
the knowledge of things as they do exist, and think there is 
little danger of mistaking a potato for an apple, or a squash 
for a pear. Tho in the dark we may lay hold of the 
Frenchman's pomme de terre — apple of the earth, the first 



PICTURE WRITING. — ANECDOTE. 39 

bite will satisfy us of our mistake if we are not too meta- 
physical. 

The same idea may be called up in your minds by a pic- 
ture of the apple presented to your sight. On this ground 
the picture writing of the ancients may be accounted for ; 
and after that, the hieroglyphics of Egypt and other coun- 
tries, which was but a step from picture writing towards the 
use of the alphabet. But these signs or vehicles for the 
conveyance or transmission of their thoughts, compared 
with the present perfect state of language, were as aukward 
and uncomly as the carriages employed for the convey, 
ance of their bodies were compared with those now in use. 
They were like ox carts drawn by mules, compared with 
the most splendid barouches drawn by elegant dapple- 
greys. 

A similar mode would be adopted now by those unac- 
quainted with alphabetical writing. It was so with the 
merchant who could not write. He sold his neighbor a 
grindstone, on trust. Lest he should forget it — lest the idea 
of it should be obliterated from the mind — he, in the absence 
of his clerk, took his book and a pen and drew out a round 
'picture to represent it. Some months after, he dunned his 
neighbor for his pay for a cheese. " I have bought no 
cheese of you," was the reply. Yes, you have, for I have 
it charged. " You must be mistaken, for I never bought a 
cheese. We always make our own." How then should 
I have one charged to you ? "I cannot tell. I have never 
had any thing here on credit except a grindstone." Ah ! 
that 's it, that 's it, only I forgot to make a hole through 
it!" 

Ideas may also be exchanged by actions. This is the 
first and strongest language of nature. It may be employed, 



40 WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANi&UAGE. 

when words have failed, in the most effectual manner. 
The angry man, choked with rage, unable to speak, tells 
the violent passions, burning in his bosom, in a language 
which can not be mistaken. The actions of a friend are a 
surer test of friendship than all the honied words he may 
utter. Actions speak louder than words. The first im- 
pressions of maternal affection are produced in the infant 
mind by the soothing attentions of the mother. In the same 
way we may understand the language of the deaf and dumb. 
Certain motions express certain ideas. These being duly 
arranged and conformed to our alphabetic signs, and well 
understood, the pupil may become acquainted with book 
knowledge as well as we. They go by sight and not by 
sound. A different method is adopted with the blind. Let- 
ters with them are so arranged that they can feel them. 
The signs thus felt correspond with the sounds they hear. 
Here they must stop. They cannot see to describe. Those 
who are so unfortunate as to be blind and deaf, can have 
but a faint knowledge of language, or the ideas of others. 

On similar principles wo may explain the pantomime 
plays sometimes performed, where the most entertaining 
scenes of love and murder are represented, but not a word 
spoken. 

Three things are always to be born in mind in the use 
and study of all language : 1st, the thing signified ; 2d, the 
idea of the thing ; and 3d, the word or sign chosen to repre- 
sent it. 

Things exist. 

Thinking beings conceive ideas of things. 

Those who employ language adopt sounds or signs to 
convey those ideas to others. 



PRINCIPLES APPLY UNIVERSALLY. 41 

On these obvious principles rest the whole superstructure 
of all language, spoken or written. Objects are presented 
to the mind, impressions are there made, which, retained, 
constitute the idea, and, by agreement, certain words are 
employed as the future signs or representations of those 
ideas. If we saw an object in early hfe and knew its name, 
the mention of that name will recal afresh the idea which 
had long lain dormant in the memory, (if I may so speak,) 
and we can converse about it as correctly as when we first 
saw it. 

These principles, I have said, hold good in all languages. 
Proof of this may not improperly be offered here, provided 
it be not too prolix. I will endeavor to be brief. 

In an open area of sufficient dimensions is congregated 
a delegation from every language under heaven. All are 
so arranged as to face a common center. A white horse 
is led into that spot and all look at the living animal 
which stands before them. The same impression must be 
made on all minds so far as a single animal is concerned. 
But as the whole is made up of parts, so their minds will 
soon diverge from a single idea, and one will think of his 
size, compared with other horses ; another of his form ; an- 
other of his color. Some will think of his noble appearance, 
others of his ability to travel, or (in jockey phrase) 'his 
speed. The farrier will look for his blemishes, to see if he 
is sound, and the jockey at his teeth, to guess at his age. 
The anatomist will, in thought, dissect him into parts and 
see every bone, sinew, cartilage, blood vessel, his stomach, 
lungs, liver, heart, entrails ; every part will be laid open ; 
and while the thoughtless urchin sees a single object — a 
white horse — others will, at a single glance, read volumes of 
instruction. Oh ! the importance of knowledge ! how little 



42 WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE. 

is it regarded ! What funds of instruction might be gath- 
ered from the lessons every where presented to the mind ! 

One impression would be made on all minds in reference 
to the single tangible object before them ; no matter how 
learned or ignorant. There stands an animal obvious to 
all. Let him be removed out of sight, and a very exact 
picture of him suspended in his place. All again agree. 
Here then is the proof of our first general principle, viz. all 
language depends on the fixed and unvarying laws of na- 
ture. 

Let the picture be removed and a man step forth and 
pronounce the word, ippos. The Greek starts up and says, 
" Yes, it is so." The rest do not comprehend him. He then 
writes out distinctly, I fj If O S • They are in the dark 
as to the meaning. They know not whether a horse, a 
man, or a goose is named. All the Greeks, however, un- 
derstand the meaning the same as when the horse or pic- 
ture was before them, for they had agreed that ippos should 
represent the idea of that animal. 

Forth steps another, and pronounces the word chevaL 
Every Frenchman is aroused : Oui, monsieur ? Yes, sir. 
Comprenez vous ? Do you understand? he says to the rest. 
But they are dumb. He then writes C-H-E-V~A-L. 
All are as ignorant as before, save the Frenchmen who had 
agreed that cheval should be the name for horse. 

Next go yourself, thinking all will understand you, and 
say, horse ; but, lo ! none unacquainted with your language 
are the wiser for the sound you utter, or the sign you sus- 
pended before them ; save, perhaps, a little old Saxon, who, 
at first looks deceived by the similarity of sound, but, seeing 
the sign, is as demure as ever, for he omits the e, and pro- 
nounces it shorter than we do, more like a yorkshire man. 



DERIVATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 43 

But why are you not understood ? Because others have 
not entered into an agreement with you that h-o-r-s-e, spoken 
or written, shall represent that animal. 

Take another example. Place the living animal called 
man before them. Less trouble will be found in this case 
than in the former, for there is a nearer agreement than be- 
fore in regard to the signs which shall be employed to ex- 
press the idea. This word occurs with very little variation 
in the modern languages, derived undoubtedly from the Teu- 
tonic, with a little change in the spelling, as Saxon mann or 
mon, Gothic manna, German, Danish, Dutch, Sweedish and 
Icelandic like ours. In the south of Europe, however, this 
word varies as well as others. 

Our language is derived more directly from the old Sax- 
on than from any other, but has a great similarity to the 
French and Latin, and a kind of cousin-german to all the 
languages of Europe, ancient and modern. Ours, indeed, 
is a compound from most other languages, retaining some of 
their beauties and many of their defects. We can boast little 
distinctive character of our own. As England was possessed 
by different nations at different periods, so different dia- 
lects were introduced, and we can trace our language to 
as many sources, German, Danish, Saxon, French, and 
Roman, which were the different nations amalgamated 
into the British empire. We retain little of the real old 
english — few words which may not be traced to a foreign 
extraction. Different people settling in a country would of 
course carry their ideas and manner of expressing them ; 
and from the whole compound a general agreement would, 
in process of time, take place, and a uniform language be 
established. Such is the origin and condition of our Ian- 



44 WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE. . 

guage, as well as every other modern tongue of which we 
have any knowledge. 

There is one practice of which our savans are guilty, at 
which I do most seriously demur — the extravagant intro- 
duction of exotic words into our vocabulary, apparently for 
no other object than to swell the size of a dictionary, and 
boast of having found out and defined thousands of words 
more than any body else. A mania seems to have seized 
our lexicographers, so that they have forsaken the good old 
style of "plainness of speech," and are flourishing and 
brandishing about in a cloud of verbiage as though the 
whole end of instruction was to teach loquacity. And some 
of our popular writers and speakers have caught the infec- 
tion, and flourish in borrowed garments, prizing themselves 
most highly when they use words and phrases which no 
body can understand. 

I will not contend that in the advancement of the arts 
and sciences it may not be proper to introduce foreign terms 
as the means of conveying a knowledge of those improve- 
ments to others. It is better than to coin new words, inas- 
much as they are generally adopted by all modern nations. 
In this way all languages are approximating together ; and 
when the light of truth, science, and religion, has fully 
shone on all the nations, we may hope one language will 
be spoken, and the promise be fulfilled, that God has " turned 
unto the people a pure language, that they may call upon 
the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." 

New ideas are formed like new inventions. Established 
principles are employed in a new combination, so as to pro- 
duce a new manifestation. Words are chosen as nearly 
allied to former ideas as possible, to express or represent 
this new combination. Thus, Fulton applied steam power 



NEW WORDS. — SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 45 

to navigation. A new idea was produced, A boat was 
seen passing along the waters without the aid of wind or 
tide. Instead of coining a new word to express the whole, 
a word which nobody would understand, two old ones 
were combined, and " steamboat''^ became the sign to rep- 
resent the idea of the thing beheld. So with rail-road, cot- 
ton.mill, and gun-powder. In the same way we may ac- 
count for most words employed in science, although in that 
case we are more dependant on foreign languages,/ in 
as much as a large portion of our knowledge is derived 
from them. But we may account for them on the same 
principle as above. Phrenology is a compound of two 
greek words, and means the science or knowledge of the 
mind. So of geology, mineralogy, &c. But when im- 
provements are made by those who speak the english, 
words in our own language are employed and used not only 
by ourselves, but also by those nations who profit by our 
investigations. 

I trust I have now said enough on the geriei'al principles 
of language as applied to things. In the next lecture I will 
come down to a sort of bird's eye view of grammar. But 
my soul abhors arbitrary rules so devoutly, I can make no 
promises how long I will continue in close communion with 
set forms of speech. I love to wander too well to remain 
confined to one spot, narrowed up in the limits fixed by 
others. Freedom is the empire of the mind ; it abjures 
all fetters, all slavery. It kneels at the altar of virtue and 
worships at the shrine of truth. No obstacles should be 
thrown in the way of its progress. No limits should be set 
to it but those of the Almighty. 



LECTURE IV. 

ON NOUNS. 

Nouns defined. — Things. — Qualities of matter. — Mind. — Spiritual 
beings. — Qualities of mind. — How learned. — Imaginary things. — 
Negation. — Names of actions. — Proper nouns. — Characteristic 
names. — Proper nouns may become common. 

Your attention is, this evening, invited to the first divisions 
of words, called Nouns, This is a most important class, and 
as such deserves our particular notice. 

Nouns are the names of things. 

The word noun is derived from the Latin nomen, French 
worn. It means name. Hence the definition above given. 

In grammar it is employed to distinguish that class of 
words which name things, or stand as signs or representa- 
tives of thiugs. 

We use the word thing in its broadest sense, including 
every possible entity ; every being, or thing, animate or in- 
animate, material or immaterial, real or imaginary, phys- 
ical, moral, or intellectual. It is the noun of the Saxon 
thincan or thingian, to think ; and is used to express every 
conceivable object of thought, in whatever form or manner 
presented to the human mind. 

Every word employed to designate things, or name them, 
is to be ranked in the class called Jiouns, or names. You 
have only to determine whether a word is used thus, to learn 



QUALITIES OF MATTER. MIND. 47 

whether it belongs to this or some other class of words. 
Here let me repeat : 

1. Things exist. 

2. We conceive ideas of things. 

3. We use sounds or signs to communicate these ideas to 
others. 

4. We denominate the class of words thus used, nouns. 

Perhaps I ought to stop here, or pass to another topic. 
But as these lectures are intended to be so plain that all 
can understand my meaning, I must indulge in a few more 
remarks before advancing farther. 

In addition to individual, tangible objects, we conceive 
ideas of the qualities of things, and give names to such qual- 
ities, which become nouns. Thus, the hardness of iron, the 
heat of fire, the color of a rose, the bitterness of gall, the 
error of grammars. The following may serve to make my 
views more plain. Take two tumblers, the one half filled 
with water, the other with milk ; mix them together. You 
can now talk of the milk in the water, or the water in the 
milk. Your ideas are distinct, tho the objects are so in- 
timately blended, that they can not be separated. So with 
the qualities of things. 

We also speak of mind, intellect, soul ; but to them we 
can give no form, and of them paint no likeness. Yet we 
have ideas of them, and employ words to express them, 
which become nouns. 

This accounts for the reason why the great Parent Intel- 
lect has strictly forbidden, in the decalogue, that a Hkeness 
of him should be constructed. His being and attributes are 
discoverable only thro the medium of his works and word. 
No man can see him and live. It would be the height of 



48 ON NOTTNS. 

folly — it would be more — it would be blasphemy — to at- 
tempt to paint the likeness of him whose presence fills im- 
mensity — whose center is every where, and whose circum- 
ference is no where. The name of this Spirit or Being 
was held in the most profound reverence by the Jews, as 
we shall have occasion to mention when we come to treat 
of the verb to be. 

We talk of angels, and have seen the unhallowed attempt 
to describe their likeness in the form of pictures, which dis- 
play the fancy of the artist very finely, but give a misera- 
ble idea of those pure spirits who minister at the altar of 
God, and chant his praises in notes of the most unspeakable 
delight. 

We have also seen death and the pale horse, the firy 
dragon, the mystery of Babylon, and such like things, re- 
presented on canvass ; but they betoken more of human 
talent to depict the marvellous, than a strict regard for truth. 
Beelzebub, imps, and all Pandemonium, may be vividly im- 
agined and finely arranged in fiction, and we can name 
them. Wizzards, witches, and fairies, may play their sport- 
ive tricks in the human brain, and receive names as tho they 
were real. 

We also think and speak of the qualities and affections 
of the mind as well as matter, as wisdom, knowledge, vir- 
tue, vice, love, hatred, anger. Our conceptions in this case 
may be less distinct, but we have ideas, and use words to 
express them. There is, we confess, a greater liability to 
mistake and misunderstand when treating of mind and its 
qualities, than of matter. The reason is evident, people 
know less of it. Its operations are less distinct and more 
varying. 



IMAGINARY THINGS. 49 

The child first sees material objects. It is taught to 
name them. It next learns the qualities of things ; as the 
sweetness of sugar, the darkness of night, the beauty of 
flowers. From this it ascends by gradation to the higher 
attainments of knowledge as revealed in the empire of mind, 
as well as matter. Great care should be taken that this 
advancement be easy, natural, and thoro. It should be 
constantly impressed with the importance of obtaining clear 
and definite ideas of things, and never employ words till 
it has ideas to express ; never name a thing of which it has 
no knowledge. This is ignorance. 

It would be well, perhaps, to extend this remark to those 
older than children, in years, but less in real practical know- 
ledge. The remark is of such general application, that no 
specification need be made, except to the case before us ; 
to those affected proficients in grammar, whose only know- 
ledge is the memory of words, which to them have no mean- 
ings, if, indeed, the writers themselves had any to express 
by them ; a fact we regard as questionable, at best. There 
is hardly a teacher of grammar, whose self-esteem is not 
enormous, who will not confess himself ignorant on many of 
the important principles of language ; that he has never un- 
derstood, and could never explain them. He finds no diffi- 
culty in repeating what the books say, but if called upon to 
express an opinion of his own, he has none to give. He has 
learned and used words without knowing their meaning, 

Children should be taught language as they are taught 
music. They should learn the simple tones on which the 
whole science depends. Distinct impressions of sounds 
should be made on their minds, and the characters which 
represent them should be inseparably associated with them. 
They will then learn tunes from the compositions of those 



50 ON NOUNS. 

sounds, as represented by notes. By dint of application, 
tbey will soon beconae familiar with these principles, if pos- 
sessed of a talent for song, and may soon pass the acme with 
ease, accuracy, and rapidity. But there are those who may 
sing very prettily, and tolerably correct, who have never 
studied the first rudiments of music. But such can never 
become adepts in the science. 

So there are those who use language correctly, who never 
saw the inside of a grammar book, and who never exam- 
ined the principles on which it depends. But this, by no 
means, proves that it is better to sing by rote, than " with 
the understanding." These rudiments, however, should 
form the business of the nursery, rather than the grammar 
school. Every mother should labor to give distinct and 
forcible impressions of such things as she learns her children 
to name. She should carefully prevent them from em- 
ploying words which have no meaning, and still more 
strictly should she guard them against attaching a wrong 
meaning to those they do use. In this way, the foundation 
for future knowledge and eminence, would be laid broad and 
deep. But I wander. 

We attach names to imaginary things ; as ghosts, genii, 
imps. 

To this class belong the thirty thousand gods of the an- 
cients, who were frequently represented by emblems sig- 
nificant of the characters attached to them. We employ 
words to name these imaginary things, so that we read and 
converse about them understandingly, tho our ideas may be 
exceedingly various. 

Nouns are also used to express negation, of which no 
idea can be formed. In this case, the mind rests on what 
exists, and employs a word to express what does not. We 



NEGATION. NAMES OF ACTIONS. 51 

speak of a hole in the paper. But we can form no idea of 
a hole, separated from the surrounding substances. Re- 
move the parts of the paper till nothing is left, and then you 
may look in vain for the hole. It is not there. It never 
was. In the same way we use the words nothing, nobody, 
nonentity, vacuum, absence, space, blank, annihilation, and 
oblivion. These are relative terms, to be understood in re- 
ference to things which are known to exist. We must know 
of something before we can talk of nothing, of an entity be- 
fore we can think of nonentity. 

In a similar way we employ words to name actions, which 
are produced by the changes of objects. We speak of a 
race, of a flight, of a sitting or session, of a journey, of a 
ride, of a walk, of a residence, etc. In all these cases, the 
mind is fixed on the persons who performed these things. 
Take for example, a race. Of that, we can conceive no 
idea separate from the agent or object which ran the race. 
Without some other word to inform us we could not decide 
whether a horse race, afoot race, a boat race, the race of 
a mill, or some other race, was the object of remark. The 
same may be said of flight, for we read of the flight of birds, 
the flight of Mahommed, the flight of armies, and the flight 
of intellect. 

We also give names to actions as tho they were taking 
place in the present tense. " The reading of the report 
was deferred ;" steamboat racing is dangerous to public 
safety ; stealing is a crime ; false teaching deserves the 
reprobation of all. 

The hints I have given will assist you in acquiring a 
knowledge of nouns as used to express ideas in vocal or 
written language. This subject might be pursued further 
with profit, if time would permit. As the time allotted to 



52 ON NOUNS. 

this lecture is nearly exhausted, I forbear. I shall hereaf. 
ter have occasion to show how a whole phrase may be 
used to name an idea, and as such stand as the agent or 
object of a verb. 

Some nouns are specifically used to designate certain ob- 
jects, and distinguish them from the class to which they 
usually belong. In this way they assume a distinctive 
character, and are usually denominated proper nouns. 
They apply to persons, places and things ; as, John Smith, 
Boston, Hy lax. Boy is applied in common to all young 
males of the human species, and as such is a common nou7i 
or name. John Smith designates a particular boy from the 
rest. 

Proper names may be also applied to animals and things. 
The stable keeper and stageman has a name for every 
horse he owns, to distinguish it from other horses ; the dai- 
ryman for his cows, the boy for his dog, and the girl for 
her doll. Any word, in fact, may become a proper name 
by being specifically used ; as the ship Fair Trader, the 
brig Success, sloop Delight in Peace, the race horse Eclipse, 
Black Hawk, Round Nose, and Red Jacket. 

Proper names were formerly used in reference to certain 
traits of character or circumstances connected with the place 
or thing. Abram was changed to Abraham, the former 
signifying an elevated father, the latter, the father of a mul- 
titude. Isaac signified laughter, and was given because his 
mother laughed at the message of the angel. Jacob signi- 
fied a supplanter, because he was to obtain the birthright 
of his elder brother. 

A ridiculous rage obtained with our puritan fathers to 
express scripture sentiments in the names of their children, 



PROPER NOUNS. CHARACTERISTIC NAMES. 53 

as may be seen by consulting the records of the Plymouth 
and Massachusetts colonies. 

This practice has not wholly gone out of use in our day, 
for we hear of the names of Hope, Mercy, Patience, Comfort, 
Experience, Temperance, Faith, Deliverance, Return, and 
such like, applied usually to females, (being more in char- 
acter probably,) and sometimes to males. We have also 
the names of White, Black, Green, Red, Gray, Brown, 01- 
ive, Whitefield, Blackwood, Redfield, Woodhouse, Stone- 
house, Waterhouse, Woodbridge, Swiftwater, Lowater, 
Drinkwater, Spring, Brooks, Rivers, Pond, Lake, Fair- 
weather, Merry weather, Weatherhead, Rice, Wheat, Straw, 
Greatrakes, Bird, Fowle, Crow, Hawks, Eagle, Partridge, 
Wren, Goslings, Fox, Camel, Zebra, Bear, Wolf, Hogg, 
Rain, Snow, Haile, Frost, Fogg, Mudd, Clay, Sands, Hills, 
Valley, Field, Stone, Flint, Silver, Gould, and Diamond. 

Proper nouns may also become common when used as 
words of general import ; as, dunces, corrupted from Duns 
Scotus, a distinguished theologian, born at Dunstane, North- 
umberland, an opposer of the doctrines of Thomas Aqui- 
nus. He is a real solomon, jack tars, judases, antichrist, 
and so on. 

Nouns may also be considered in respect to person, num- 
ber, gender, and positive, or case. There are three per- 
sons, two numbers, two genders, and two cases. But the 
further consideration of these things will be deferred, which, 
together with Pronouns, will form the subject of our next 
lecture. 



LECTURE V. 

ON NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 

Nouns in respect to persons. — Number. — Singular. — Plural. — How 
formed. — Foreign plurals. — Proper names admit of plurals. — 
Gender. — No neuter. — In figurative language. — Errors. — Posi- 
tion or case. — Agents. — Objects. — Possessive case considered. — 
A definitive word. — Pronouns. — One kind. — Originally nouns. — 
Specifically applied. 

We resume the consideration of nouns this evening, in 
relation to person, number, gender, and position or case. 

In the use of language there is a speaker, person spoken 
to, and things spoken of. Those who speak are the first 
persons, those who hear the second, and those who are, the 
subject of conversation the third. 

The first and second persons are generally used in refer- 
ence to human beings capable of speech and understanding. 
But we sometimes condesend to hold converse with animals 
and inanimate matter. The bird trainer talks to his par- 
rots, the coachman to his horses, the sailor to the winds, 
and the poet to his landscapes, towers, and wild imaginings, 
to which he gives a " local habitation and a name." 

By metaphor, language is put into the mouths of animals, 
particularly in fables. By a still further license, places 
and things, flowers, trees, forests, brooks, lakes, moun- 
tains, towers, castles, stars, &c. are made to speak the most 
eloquent language, in the first person, in addresses the most 



PERSON. NUMBER. 55 

pathetic. The propriety of such a use of words I will not 
stop to question, but simply remark that such figures should 
never be employed in the instruction of children. As the 
mind expands, no longer content to grovel amidst mundane 
things, we mount the pegasus of imagination and soar thro 
the blissful or terrific scenes of fancy and fiction, and study 
a language before unknown. But it would be an unright- 
eous demand upon others, to require them to understand us ; 
and quite as unpardonable to brand them with ignorance 
because they do not. 

Most nouns are in the third person. More things are 
talked about than talk themselves, or are talked to by oth- 
ers. Hence there is little necessity for teaching children 
to specify except in the first or second person, which is 
very easily done. 

In English there are two numbers, singular and plural. 
The singular is confined to one, the plural is extended to 
any indefinite number. The Greeks, adopted a dual num- 
ber which they used to express two objects united in pairs, 
or couples ; as, a span of horses, a yoke of oxen, a brace 
of pistols, a pair of shoes. We express the same idea with 
more words, using the singular to represent the union of the 
two. We also extend this use of words and employ what 
are called nouns of multitude ; as, a people, an army, a 
host, a nation. These and similar words are used in the 
singular referring to many combined in a united whole, or 
in the plural comprehending a diversity ; as, " the armies 
met," " the nations are at peace." People admits no change 
on account of number. We say " many people are collect- 
ed together and form a numerous people." 

The plural is not always to be understood as expressing 
an increase of number, but of qualities or sorts of things, as 



56 ON NOUNS AND PRONUONS. 

the merchant has a variety o^ sugars, wines, teas, drugs, 
medicines, paints and dye-woods. We also speak of hopes, 
fears, loves, anxieties. 

Some nouns admit of no plural, in fact, or in use ; as, 
chaos, universe, fitness, immortality, immensity, eternity. 
Others admit of no singular ; as, scissors, tongs, vitals, mo- 
lasses. These words probably once had singulars, but hav- 
ing no use for them they became obsolete. We have long 
been accustomed to associate the two halves of shears to- 
gether, so that in speaking of one whole, we say shears, and 
of a part, half of a shears. But of some words originally, 
and in fact plural, we have formed a singular ; as, " one 
twin died, and, tho the other one survived its dangerous 
illness, the mother wept bitterly for her twins." Twin is 
composed of two and one. It is found in old books, spelled 
twane, two-one, or twin. Thus, the twi-Wghi is formed by 
the mingling of two lights, or the division of the rays of light 
by the approaching or receding darkness. They twain 
shall be one flesh. Sheep and deer are singular or plural. 

Most plurals are formed by adding s to the singular, or, 
when euphony requires it, es ; as, tree, trees ; sun, suns ; dish, 
dishes ; box, boxes. Some retain the old plural form ; as, 
ox, oxen ; child, children ; chick, chicken ; kit, kitten. But 
habit has burst the barrier of old rules, and we now talk of 
chicks and chickens, kits and kittens. Oxen alone stands 
as a monument raised to the memory of unaltered saxon 
plurals. 

Some nouns form irregular plurals. Those ending mf 
change that letter to v and then add es ; as, half, halves ; 
leaf, leaves ; wolf, wolves. Those ending in y change that 
to i and add the es ; as, cherry, cherries ; berry, berries ; 
except when the y is preceded by a vowel, in which case it 



FORMATION OF THE PLURAL NUMBER. 57 

only adds the s ; as, day, days ; money, moneys (not ies) ; 
attorney, attorneys. All this is to make the sound more 
easy and harmonious. F and v were formerly used indis- 
criminately, in singulars as well as plurals, and, in fact, in 
the composition of all words where they occurred. The 
same may be said of i and y. 

" The Fader (Father) Alinychty of the heven abuf (above) 

In the mene tyme, unto Juno his luf (love) 

Thus spak ; and sayd." 

Douglas, booke 12, pag. 441. 

" They lyued in ioye and in felycite 

For eche of hem had other lefe and dere." 

Chaucer, Monks Tale, fol. 81, p. 1. 

" When straite twane beefes he tooke 
And an the aultar layde." 

The reason why y is changed into i in the formation of 
plurals, and in certain other cases, is, I apprehend, account- 
ed for from the fact that words which now end in y former- 
ly ended in ze, as may be seen in all old books. The reg- 
ular plural was then formed by adding s. 

" And upon those members of the bodies which wee thinke 
most unhonest, put wee more honestie on." " It rejoyceth 
not in iniquitie — diversitie of gifts — all thinges edifie not." 
See old bible, 1 Cor., chap. 13 and 14. 

Other words form their plurals still more differently, for 
which no other rule than habit can be given ; as, man, men ; 
toot, feet ; tooth, teeth ; die, dice ; mouse, mice ; penny, 
pence, and sometimes pennies, when applied to distinct 
pieces of money, and not to value. 

Many foreign nouns retain the plural form as used by the 
nations from whom we have borrowed them ; as, cherub, 
cherubim ; seraph, seraphim ; radius, radii ; memorandum, 



58 ON NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 

memoranda ; datum, data, &c. We should be pleased to 
have such words carried home, or, if they are ours by vir- 
tue of possession, let them be adopted into our family, and 
put on the garments of naturalized citizens, and no longer 
appear as lonely strangers among us. There is great auk- 
wardness in adding the english to the hebrew plural of 
cherub, as the translators of the common version of the 
bible have done. They use cherub in the singular and 
cherubms in the plural. The s should be omitted and the 
Hebrew plural retained, or the preferable course adopted, 
and the final s be added, making cherubs, seraphs, &c. 
The same might be said of all foreign nouns. It would add 
much to the regularity, dignity, and beauty, of our vernac- 
ular tongue. 

Proper nouns admit of the plural number ; as, there are 
sixty.four John Smiths in New-York, twenty Arnolds in 
Providence, and fifteen Davises in Boston. As we are not 
accustomed to form the plurals of proper names there is 
not that ease and harmony in the first use of them that we 
have found in those with which we are more familiar ;' es- 
pecially those we have rarely heard pronounced. Habit 
surmounts the greatest obstacles and makes things the most 
harsh and unpleasant appear soft and agreeable. 

Gender is applied to the distinction of the sexes. There 
are two — masculine and feminine. The former is applied to 
males, the latter to females. Those words which belong to 
neither gender, have been called neuter, that is, no gender. 
But it is hardly necessary to perplex the minds of learners 
with negatives. Let them distinguish between masculine 
and feminine genders, and little need be said to them about 
a neuter. 



GENDERS. NO NEUTER. ERRORS. 59 

There are some nouns of both genders, as student, writer, 
pupil, person, citizen, resident. Poet, author, editor, and 
some other words, have of late been applied to females, in- 
stead of poete^^, authoress, editre^^. Fashion will soon 
preclude the necessity of this former distinction. 

Some languages determine their genders by the form of 
the endings of their nouns, and what is thus made masculine 
in Rome, may be feminine in France. It is owing, no doubt, 
to this practice, in other nations, that we have attached the 
idea of gender to inanimate things ; as, " the sun, he shines 
majestically ;" while of the moon, it is said, " she sheds a 
milder radiance." But we can not coincide with the rea- 
son assigned by Mr. Murray, for this distinction. His no- 
tion is not valid. It does not correspond with facts. While 
in the south of Europe the sun is called masculine and the 
moon feminine, the northern nations invariably reverse the 
distinction, particularly the dialects of the Scandinavian. It 
was so in our own language in the time of Shakspeare. He 
calls the sun a ^^fair wench." 

By figures of rhetoric, genders may be attached to inani- 
mate matter. Where things are personified, we usually 
speak of them as masculine and feminine ; but this practice 
depends on fancy, and not on any fixed rules. There is, in 
truth, hut two genders, and those confined to animals. When 
we break these rules, and follow the undirected wanderings 
of fancy, we can form no rules to regulate our words. We 
may have as many fanciflil ones as we please, but they will 
not apply in common practice. For example : poets and 
artists have usually attached female loveliness to angels, 
and placed them in the feminine gender. But they are in- 
variably used in the masculine thro out the scriptures. 



60 ON NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 

There is an apparent absurdity in sa5n'ng of the ship 
General Williams, she is beautiful ; or, of the steamboat 
Benjamin Franklin, she is out of date. It were far better 
to use no gender in such cases. But if people will continue 
the practice of making distinctions where there are none, 
they must do it from habit and whim, and not from any rea- 
son or propriety. 

There are three ways in which we usually distinguish 
the forms of words in reference to gender. 1st. By words 
which are different ; as boy, girl; uncle, aunt; father, mother. 
2d. By a different termination of the same word ; as in- 
structor, instructress ; lion, lioness ; poet, poetess. Ess is 
a contraction from the hebrew essa, a female. 3d, By 
prefixing another word ; as, a male child, a female child ; 
a man servant, a maid servant; a he-goat, a she-goat. 

The last consideration that attaches to nouns, is the posi- 
tion they occupy in written or spoken language, in relation 
to other words, as being agents, or objects of action. This 
is termed position. 

There are two positions in which nouns stand in reference 
to their meaning and use. First, as agents of action, as 
David killed Goliah. Second, as objects on which action 
terminates ; as, Richard conquered Henry, These two dis- 
tinctions should be observed in the use of all nouns. But 
the propriety of this division will be more evident when we 
come to treat of verbs, their agents and objects. 

It will be perceived that we have abandoned the use of 
the " possessive case" a distinction which has been insisted 
on in our grammars ; and also changed the names of the 
other two. As we would adopt nothing that is new without 
first being convinced that something is needed which the 
thing proposed will supply ; so we would reject nothing that 



POSITION, OR CASE. AGENTS. OBJECTS. 61 

is old, till we have found it useless and cumbersome. It 
will be admitted on all hands that the fewer and simpler the 
rules of grammar, the more readily will they be understood, 
and the more correctly applied. We should guard, on the 
one hand, against having so many as to perplex, and on the 
other, retain enough to apply in the correct use of language. 
It is on this ground that we have proposed an improvement 
in the names and number of cases, or positions. 

The word noun signifies name, and nominative is the ad- 
jective derived from noun, and partakes of the same mean- 
ing. Hence the nominative or naming case may apply as 
correctly to the object as the agent. " John strikes Thom- 
as, and Thomas strikes John.^^ John and Thomas name 
the boys who strike, but in the first case John is the actor 
or agent and Thomas the object. In the latter it is changed. 
To use a nx)minative name is a redundancy which should 
be avoided. You will understand my meaning and see the 
propriety of the change proposed, as the mind of the learner 
should not be burthened with needless or irrelevant phrases. 

But our main objection lies against the " possessive case." 
We regard it as a false and unnecessary distinction. What 
is the possessive case ? Murray defines it as "expressing 
the relation of property or possession ; as, my father's 
house." His rule of syntax is, " one substantive governs 
another, signifying a different thing, in the possessive or 
genitive case ; as, my father's house." I desire you. to un- 
derstand the definition and use as here given. Read it over 
again, and be careful that you know the meaning of prop, 
erty, possession, and government. Now let a scholar parse 
correctly the example given. " Father^s^^ is a common 
noun, third person, singular number, masculine gender, and 
governed by house :" Rule, " One noun governs another," 
F 



62 ON NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 

&c. Then my father does not govern his own house, but 
his house him ! What must be the conduct and condition of 
the family, if they have usurped the government of their 
head ? " John Jones, hatter, keeps constantly for sale all 
kinds of loy^s hats. Parse boy's. It is a noun, possessive 
case, governed by hats." What is the possessive case? 
It " signifies the relation of property or possession.^^ Do the 
hats belong to the boys ? Oh no. Are they the property 
or in the possession of the boys? Certainly not. Then 
what relation is there of property or possession ? None at 
all. They belong to John Jones, were made by him, are 
his property, and by him are advertised for sale. He has 
used the word boy^s to distinguish their size, quality, and 
fitness for boy's use. 

"The master's slave." Master's is in the possessive 
case, and governed by slave ! If grammars are true there 
can be no need of abolition societies, unless it is to look 
after the master and see that he is not abused. The rider's 
horse ; the captain's ship ; the general's army ; the gov- 
ernor's cat ; the king's subject. How false it would be to 
teach scholars the idea of property and government in such 
cases. The teacher'' s scholars should never learn thut by 
virtue of their grammars, or the apostrophe and letter s, 
they have a right to govern their teachers ; nor the moth- 
er's son, to govern his mother. Our merchants would dis- 
like exceedingly to have the ladies understand them to 
signify by their advertisements that the " ladies' merino 
shawls, the ladies's bonnets and lace wrought veils, the la- 
dies' gloves and elegant Thibet, silk and challa dresses, 
were the property of the ladies ; for in that case they might 
claim or possess themselves of their property, and no longer 
trouble the merchant with the care of it. 



POSSESSIVE CASE CONSIDERED. 63 

" Peter's wife's mother lay sick of a fever." " His phy- 
sician said that his disease would require his utmost skill to 
defeat its progress in his limbs." Phrases like these are 
constantly occurring, which can not be explained intelligibly 
by the existing grammars. In fact, the words said to be 
nouns in the possessive case, have changed their character, 
by use, from nouns to adjectives, or definitive words, and 
should thus be classed. Russia iron, Holland gin, China 
ware, American people, the Washington tavern, Lafayette 
house, Astor house, Hudson river, (formerly Hudson's,) 
Baffin's bay, Van Dieman's land, John street, Harper's fer- 
ry, Hill's bridge, a paper book, a bound book, a red book, 
John's book — one which John is known to use, it may be 
a borrowed one, but generally known as some way con- 
nected with him, — Rev. Mr. Smith's church, St. John's 
church, Grace church, Murray's grammar ; not the property 
nor in the possession of Lindley Murray, neither does it 
govern him ; for he has gone to speak a purer language 
than he taught on earth. It is mine. I bought it, have 
possessed it these ten years ; but, thank fortune, am little 
governed by it. But more on this point when we come to 
the proper place. What I have said, will serve as a hint, 
which will enable you to see the impropriety of adopting the 
** possessive case." 

It may be said that more cases are employed in other 
languages. That is a poor reason why we should break 
the barriers of natural language. Beside, I know not how 
we should decide by that rule, for none of them have a case 
that will compare with the English possessive. The geni. 
tive of the French, Latin, or Greek, will apply in only a 
?QVf respects. The former has three, the latter five, and the 



64 ON NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 

Latin six cases, neither of which correspond with the poi§- 
sessive, as explained by Murray and his satellites. We 
should be slow to adopt into our language an idiom which 
does not belong to it, and compel learners to make distinc- 
tions where none exist. It is an easy matter to tell child- 
ren that the apostrophe and letter s marks the possessive 
case ; but when they ask the difference in the meaning be- 
tween the use of the noun and those which all admit are ad- 
jectives, it will be no indifferent task to satisfy them. What 
is the difference in the construction of language or the sense 
conveyed, between Hudson'^ river, and Hudson river ? Da- 
vis's straits, or Bass straits ? St. John's church, or Episco- 
pal church ? the sun's beams, or sun shine ? In all cases 
these words are used to define the succeeding noun. They 
regard " property or possession," only when attending cir- 
cumstances, altogether foreign from any quality in the form 
or meaning of the word itself, are so combined as to give it 
that import. And in such cases, we retain these words as 
adjectives, long after the property has passed from the hands 
of the persons who gave it a name. Field's point, Fuller^ s 
rocks, Fisher^s island, Fulton's invention, will long be re- 
tained after those whose names were given to distinguish 
these things, have slept with their fathers and been forgot- 
ten. Blannerhassett's Island, long since ceased to be his 
property or tranquil possession, by confiscation ; but it will 
retain its specific name, till the inundations of the Ohio's 
waters shall have washed it away and left not a wreck be- 
hind. 

The distinctions I have made in the positions of nouns, 
will be clearly understood when we come to the verbs. A 
few remarks upon pronouns will close the present lecture. 



PRONOUNS. 65 

PRONOUNS. 

Pronouns are such as the word indicates. Pro is the 
latin word ybr; pro-nomen, /or wown^. They are words, 
originally nouns, used specifically /or other nouns, to avoid 
the too frequent repetition of the same words ; as, Washing- 
ton was the father of his country ; he was a valiant officer. 
We ought to respect Mm. The word we, stands for the 
speaker and all present, and saves the trouble of naming 
them ; he and him, stand for Washington, to avoid the mo- 
notony which would be produced by a recurrence of his 
name. 

Pronouns are all of one kind, and few in number. I will 
give you a list of them in their respective positions. 
Agents. Objects. 

1st person, I, me, 

2d " thou, thee, 



Singular 



g 1 " mas. i he, him, 

" fern. ( she, her, 



It, It. 

C 1st person, we, us. 

Plural < 2d " ye, or you, you, 

( 3d « they, them, 

who, whom. 

The two last may be used in either person, number, or 
gender. 

The frequent use of these words render them very im- 
portant, in the elegant and rapid use of language. They 
are so short, and their sound so soft and easy, that the fre- 
quency of their recurrence does not mar the beauty of a sen- 
tence, but saves us from the redundancy of other words. 
They are substituted only when there is little danger of 
mistaking the nouns for which they stand. They are, how- 
ever, sometimes used in a very broad sense ; as, " they say 

F* 



66 ON NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 

it is so;" meaning no particular persons, but the general 
sentiment. It frequently takes the lead of a sentence, and 
the thing represented by it comes after ; as, " It is currently 
reported, that things were thus and so." Here it represents 
the single idea which is afterward stated at length. " It is 
so." ^^ It may be that the nations will be destroyed by 
wars, earthquakes, and famines." But more of this when 
we come to speak of the composition of sentences. 

The words now classed as pronouns were originally 
names of things, but in this character they have long been 
obsolete. They are now used only in their secondary 
character as the representatives of other words. The word 
he, for instance, signified originally to breathe. It was ap- 
plied to the living beings who inhaled air. It occurs with 
little change in the various languages of Europe, ancient 
and modern, till at length it is applied to the male agent 
which lives and acts. The word her means light, but is 
specifically applied to females which are the objects of ac- 
tion. 

Was it in accordance with the design of these lectures, it 
would give me pleasure to go into a minute examination of 
the origin, changes and meaning of these words till they 
came to be applied as specific words of exceeding limited 
character. Most of them might be traced thro all the lan- 
guages of Europe ; the Arabic, Persic, Arminian, Chal- 
dean, Hebrew, and, for ought I know, all the languages of 
Asia. But as they are now admitted a peculiar position in 
the expression of thought from which they never vary ; and 
as we are contending about philosophic principles rather 
than verbal criticisms, I shall forbear a further considera- 
tion of these words. 



PRONOUNS. 67 

In the proper place I shall consider those words formerly 
called " Adjective Pronouns," " Pronoun Adjectives," or 
" Pronominal Adjectives," to suit the varying whims of those 
grammar makers, who desired to show off a speck of im- 
pro\^ement in their " simplifying" works without ever hav- 
ing a new idea to express. It is a query in some minds 
whether the seventy-two " simplifiers" and " improvers" 
of Murray's grammar ever had any distinct notions in their 
heads which they did not obtain from the very man, who, 
it would seem by their conduct, was unable to explain his 
own meaning. 



LECTURE VI. 
ON ADJECTIVES. 



Definition of adjectives. — General character. — Derivation. — -How 
understood. — Defining and describing. — Meaning changes to suit 
the noun. — Too numerous. — Derived from nouns. — Nouns and 
verbs made from adjectives. — Foreign adjectives. — A general 
list. — Difficult to be understood. — An example. — Often superflu- 
ous. — Derived from verbs. — Participles. — Some prepositions. — 
Meaning unknown. — With. — In. — Out. — Of. 



The most important sub-division of words is the class 
called Adjectives, which we propose to notice this evening. 
Adjective signifies added or joined to. We employ the term 
in grammar to designate that class of words which are 
added to nouns to define or describe them. In doing this, we 
strictly adhere to the principles we have already advanced, 
and do not deviate from the laws of nature, as developed in 
the regulation of speech. 

In speaking of things, we had occasion to observe that 
the mind not only conceived ideas of things, but of their 
properties ; as, the hardness of flint ; the heat of fire ; and 
that we spoke of one thing in reference to another. We 
come now to consider this subject more at large. 

In the use of language the mind first rests on the thing 
which is present before it, or the word which represents the 
idea of that thing. Next it observes the changes and atti- 
tudes of these things. Thirdly, it conceives ideas of their 
qualities and relations to other things. The first use of 



GENERAL CHARACTER. DERIVATION. 69 

these words is to name things. This we call nouns. The 
second is to express their actions. This we call verbs. 
The last is to define or describe things. This we call ad- 
jectives. There is a great similarity between the words 
used to name tilings and to express their actions ; as, build- 
ers build buildings ; singers sing songs ; writers write writ- 
ings ; painters paint paintings. In the popular use of lan- 
guage we vary these words to avoid the monotony and give 
pleasantness and variety. We say builders erect houses, 
barns, and other buildings ; singers perform pieces of mu- 
sic ; musicians plaj'' tunes ; the choir sing psalm tunes ; 
artists paint pictures. 

From these two classes a third is derived which partakes 
somewhat of the nature of both, and yet from its secondary 
use, it has obtained a distinctive character, and as such is 
allowed a separate position among the classes of words. 

It might perhaps appear more in order to pass the con- 
sideration of adjectives till we have noticed the character and 
use of verbs, from which an important portion of them is 
derived. But as they are used in connexion with nouns, and 
as the character they borrow from the verb will be readily 
understood, I have preferred to retain the old arrangement, 
and cosinder them in this place. 

Adjectives are words added to nouns to define or de- 
scribe them. They are derived either, 1st, from nouns ; as, 
window glass, glass window, a stone house, building stone, 
maple sugar, sugar cane ; or, 2d, from verbs ; as, a written 
paper, a printed book, a painted house, a writing desk. In 
the first case we employ one noun, or the name of one thing, 
to define another, thus giving it a secondary use. A glass 
window is one made of glass, and not of any thing else. It 
is neither a board window, nor a paper window. Maple 



70 



ON ADJECTIVES. 



sugar is not cane sugar, r\o\' heet sugar, nor molasses sugar ; 
but it may be hrown sugar, if it has been brownetZ, or white 
if it has been wh'iied or whitened. In this case, you at once 
perceive the correctness of our second proposition, in the 
derivation of adjectives from verbs, by which we describe 
a thing in reference to its condition, in some way affected 
by the operation of a prior action. A printed book is one 
on which the action of printing has been performed. A 
written book differs from the former, in as much as its ap- 
pearance was produced by writing and not by printing. 

In the definition or description of things, whatever is best 
understood is employed as a definitive or descriptive term, 
and is attached to the object to make known its properties 
and relations. Speaking of nations, if we desire to distin- 
guish some from others, we choose the words supposed to 
be best known, and talk of European, African, American, 
or Indian nations ; northern, southern, eastern, or western 
nations. These last words are used in reference to their 
relative position, and may be variously understood ;- for we 
speak of the northern, eastern, western, and southern na- 
tions of Europe, of Africa, and the world. 

Again, we read of civilize<Z, half-civilized, and barbarous 
nations ; learned, unlearned, ignorant, and enlightened ; rich, 
powerful, enterprising, respected, ancient or modern, christ- 
ian, mahomedan or pagan. In these, and a thousand simi- 
lar cases, we decide the meaning, not alone from the word 
employed as an adjective, but from the subject of remark ; 
for, were we to attach the same meaning to the same word, 
wherever used, we could not receive correct or definite im- 
pressions from the language of others — our inferences would 
be the most monstrous. A great mountain and a great pin, 
a great continent and a great farm, a great ocean and a 



HOW UNDERSTOOD. DEFININING AND DESCRIBING. 71 

great pond, a great grammar and a great scholar, refer to 
things of very different dimensions and character ; or, as 
^Ir. Murray would say, " qualities.'^ A mountain is great 
by comparison with other mountains ; and a pin, compared 
with other pins, may be very large — exceeding great — and 
yet fall very far short of the size of a very small mountain. 
A small man may be a great scholar, and a rich neighbor 
a poor friend. A sweet flower is often very bitter to the 
taste. A good horse would make a had dinner, but false 
grammar can never make true philologists. 

All words are to be understood according to their use. 
Their meaning can be determined in no other way. Many 
words change their forms to express their relations, but 
fewer in our language than in most others, ancient or mod- 
ern. Other words remain the same, or nearly so, in every 
position ; noun, adjective, or verb, agent or object, past or 
present. To determine whether a \yord is an adjective, 
first ascertain whether it names a thing, defines or describes 
it, or expresses its action, and you will never be at a loss to 
know to what class it belongs. 

The business of adjectives is twofold, and they may be 
distinguished by the appellations of defining or describing 
adjectives. This distinction is in many cases unimportant ; 
in others it is quite essential. The same word in one case 
may define, in others describe the object, and occasionally 
do both, for we often specify things by their descriptions. 
The learner has only to ascertain the meaning and use of 
the adjective to decide whether it defines or describes the 
subject of remark. If it is employed to distinguish one 
thing fiom the general mass, or one class from other classes, 
it has the former character ; but after such thing is pointed 
out, if it is used to give a description of its character or 



72 



ON ADJECTIVES. 



properties, its character is different, and should be so under- 
stood and explained. 

Defining adjextives are used to point out,- specify or dis- 
tinguish certain things from others of their kind, or one sort 
from other sorts, and answer to the questions which, what, 
how many, or how much. 

Describing adjectives express the character and qualities 
of things, and give a more full and distinct knowledge than 
was before possessed. 

In a case before mentioned, we spoke of the " Indian na- 
tions." The word Indian was chosen to specify or define 
what nations were alluded to. But all may not decide alike 
in this case. Some may think we meant the aborigines of 
America ; others, that the southern nations of Asia were 
referred to. This difficulty originates in a misapprehension 
of the definitive word chosen. India was early known as 
the name of the south part of Asia, and the people there, 
were called Indians. When Columbus discovered the new 
world, supposing he had reached the country of India, which 
had long been sought by a voyage round the coast of Africa, 
he named it India, and the people Indians. But when the 
mistake was discovered, and the truth fully known, instead 
of effecting a change in the name already very generally 
understood, and in common use, another word was chosen 
to distinguish between countries so opposite, and IVest India 
became the word to distinguish the newly discovered islands ; 
and as India was little better known in Europe at that 
time, instead of retaining their old name unaltered, another 
word was prefixed, and they called it East India. When, 
therefore, we desire to be definite, we retain these words, 
and say. East Indians and West Indians. Without this dis- 
tinction, we should understand the native people of our own 



TOO NUMEROUS. DERIVED FROM NOUNS. 73 

country ; but in Europe, Asia, and Africa, they would think 
we alluded to those in Asia. So with all other adjectives 
which are not understood. Indian, as an adjective, may 
also be employed to describe the character and condition of 
the aborigines. We talk of an Indian temper, indian looks, 
indian blankets, furs, &c. 

In writing and conversation we should employ words to 
explain, to define and describe, which are better understood 
than those things of which we speak. The pedantry of 
some modern writers in this respect is ridiculous. Not sat- 
isfied to use plain terms which every body can understand, 
they hunt the dictionaries from alpha to omega, and not 
unfrequently overleap the " king's english," and ransack 
other languages to find an unheard of word, or a list of ad- 
jectives never before arranged together, in so nice a man- 
ner, so that their ideas are lost to the common reader, if not 
to themselves. This fault may be alleged against too many 
of our public speakers, as well as the affected gentry of the 
land. They are like Shakspeare's Gratiano, " who speaks 
an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice ; 
his reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels 
of chaff": you shall seek all day ere you find them ; and, 
when you have found them, they are not worth the search." 
Such sentences remind us of the painting of the young artist 
who drew the form of an animal, but apprehensive that 
some might mistake it, wrote under it, " This is a horse.'^ 

In forming our notions of what is signified by an adjec- 
tive, the mind should pause to determine the meaning of 
such word when used as a distinct name for some object, in 
order to determine the import of it in this new capacity. 
A tallow candle is one made of a substance called tallow, 
and is employed to distinguish it from wax or spermaceti 

G 



74 ON ADJECTIVES. 

candles. The adjective in this case, names the article of 
which the candle is made, and is thus a noun, but, as we 
are not speaking of tallow, but of candles, we place it in a 
new relation, and give it a new grammatical character. 
But you will perceive the correctness of a former assertion, 
that all words may be reduced to two classes, and that ad- 
jectives are derived from nouns or verbs. 

But you may inquire if there are not some adjectives in 
use which have no corresponding verb or noun from which 
they are derived. There are many words in our language 
which in certain uses have become obsolete, but are re- 
tained in others. We now use some words as verbs which 
originally were known only as nouns, and others as nouns 
which are unknown as verbs. We also put a new con- 
struction upon words and make nouns, verbs and adjectives 
promiscuously and with little regard to rule or propriety. 
Words at one time unknown become familiar by use, and 
others are laid aside for those more new or fashionable. 
These facts are so obvious that I shall be excused from ex- 
tending my remarks to any great length. But I will give 
an example which will serve as a clew to the whole. Take 
the word happy, long known only as an adjective. Instead 
of following this word hack to its primitive use and deriving 
it directly from its noun, or as a past participle, such as it 
is in truth, we have gone forward and made from it the 
noun happiness, and, in more modern days, are using the 
verb happify, a word, by the way, in common use, but 
which has not yet been honored with a place in our dic- 
tionaries ; altho Mr. Webster has given us, as he says, the 
unauthorised (un-author-ised) word ^^happifying.^^ Per- 
haps he had never heard or read some of our greatest sa- 



NOUNS AND VERBS MADE FROM ADJECTIVES. 75 

vans, who, if not the authors, employ the word happify very 
frequently in the pulpit and halls of legislation, and at the 
bar, as well as in common parlance. 

Happy is the past participle of the verb to hap, or, as af- 
terwards used, with a nice shade of change in the meaning, 
to happen. It means liappied, or made happy by those fa- 
vorable circumstances which have happened to us. Who- 
ever will read our old writers no further back than Shaks- 
peare, will at once see the use and changes of this word. 
They will find it in all its forms, simple and compound, as 
a verb, noun, and adjective. " It may hap that he will 
come." It happened as I was going that I found my lost 
child, and was thereby made quite happy. The man de- 
sired to A«ppify himself and family without much labor, so 
he engaged in speculation ; and A^ppily he was not so hap- 
less in his pursuit of A^ippiness as often happens to such 
Afi^J-hazard fellows, for he soon became very happy with a 
moderate fortune. 

But to the question. There are many adjectives in our 
language which are borrowed from foreign words. Instead 
of adjectiving our own nouns we go to our neighbors and 
adjective and anglicise [english-ise] their words, and adopt 
the pampered urchins into our own family and call them 
our favorites. It is no wonder that they often appear auk- 
ward and unfamiliar, and that our children are slow in 
forming an intimate acquaintance with them. You are 
here favored with a short list of these words which will 
serve as examples, and enable you to comprehend my 
meaning and apply it in future use. Some of them are reg- 
ularly used as adjectives, with or without change ; others 
are not. 



76 


ON ADJECTIVES. 


ENGLISH NOUNS. 


FOREIGN ADJECTIVES. 


Alone 


Sole, solitary 


Alms 


Eleemosynary 


Age 


Primeval 


Belief 


Credulous 


Blame 


Culpable 


Breast 


Pectoral 


Being 


Essential 


Bosom 


Graminal, sinuous 


Boy, bpyish 


Puerile 


Blood, bloody 


Sanguinary, sanguine 


Burden 


Onerous 


Beginning 


Initial 


Boundary 


Conterminous 


Brother 


Fraternal 


Bowels 


Visceral 


Body 


Corporeal 


Birth 


Natal, native 


Calf 


Vituline 


Carcass 


Cadaverous 


Cat 


Feline 


Cow 


Vaccine 


Country 


Rural, rustic 


Church 


Ecclesiastical 


Death 


Mortal 


Dog 


Canine 


Day 


Diurnal, meridian, ephemeral 


Disease 


Morbid 


East 


Oriental 


Egg 


Oval 


Ear 


Auricular 


Eye 


Ocular 



DERIVES FROM FOREIGN NOUNS. 



77 



ENGLISH NOUNS. 


FOREIGN ADJECTIVES. 


Flesh 


Carnal, carnivorous 


Father 


Paternal 


Field 


Agrarian 


FJock 


Gregarious 


Foe 


Hostile 


Fear 


Timorous, timid 


Finger 


Digital 


Flattery 


Adulatory 


Fire 


Igneous 


Faith 


Fiducial 


Foot 


Pedal 


Groin 


Inguinal 


Guardian 


Tutelar 


Glass 


Vitreous 


Grape 


Uveous 


Grief 


Dolorous 


Gain 


Lucrative 


Help 


Auxiliary 


Heart 


Cordial, cardiac 


Hire 


Stipendiary 


Hurt 


Noxious 


Hatred 


Odious 


Health 


Salutary, salubrious 


Head 


Capital, chief 


Ice 


Glacial 


Island 


Insular 


King 


Regal, royal 


Kitchen 


Culinary 


Life 


Vital, vivid, vivarious 


Lungs 


Pulmonary 


Lip 


Labial 



78 


ON ADJECTIVES. 


ENGLISH NOUNS. 


FOREIGN ADJECTIVES. 


Leg 


Crural, isosceles 


Light 


Lucid, luminous 


Love 


Amorous 


Lust 


Libidinous 


Law 


Legal, loyal 


Mother 


Maternal 


Money- 


Pecuniary 


Mixture 


Promiscuous, miscellaneous 


Moon 


Lunar, sublunary 


Mouth 


Oral 


Marrow 


Medulary 


Mind 


Mental 


Man 


Virile, male, human, masculine 


Milk 


Lacteal 


Meal 


Ferinaceous 


Nose 


Nasal 


Navel 


Umbilical 


Night 


Nocturnal, equinoctial 


Noise 


Obstreperous 


One 


First 


Parish 


Parochial 


People 


Popular, populous, public. 




epidemical, endemical 


Point 


Punctual 


Pride 


Superb, haughty 


Plenty- 


Copious 


Pitch 


Bituminous 


Priest 


Sacerdotal 


Rival 


Emulous 


Root 


Radical 


Ring 


Annular 



DERIVED FROM FOREIGN NOUNS. 



79 



ENGLISH NOUNS. 


FOREIGN ADJECTIVES. 


Reason 


Rational 


Revenge 


Vindictive 


Rule 


Regular 


Speech 


Loquacious, garrulous, elo 




quent 


Smell 


Olfactory 


Sight 


Visual, optic, perspicuous, 




conspicuous 


Side 


Lateral, collateral 


Skin 


Cutaneous 


Spittle 


Salivial 


Shoulder 


Humeral 


Shepherd 


Pastoral 


Sea 


Marine, maritime 


Share 


Literal 


Sun 


Solar 


Star 


Astral, sideral, stellar 


Sunday 


Dominical 


Spring 


Vernal 


Summer 


Estival 


Seed 


Seminal 


Ship 


Naval, nautical 


Shell 


Testaceous 


Sleep 


Soporiferous 


Strength 


Robust 


Sweat 


Sudorific 


Step 


Gradual 


Sole 


Venal 


Two 


Second 


Treaty 


Federal 


Trifle 


Nugatory 



m 


ON ADJECTIVES. 


ENGLISH NOUNS. 


FOREIGN ADJECTIVES. 


Tax 


Fiscal 


Time 


Temporal, chronical 


Town 


Oppidan 


Thanks 


Gratuitous 


Theft 


Furtive 


Threat 


Minatory 


Treachery 


Insidious 


Thing 


Real 


Throat 


Jugular, gutteral 


Taste 


Insipid 


Thought 


Pensive 


Thigh 


Femoral 


Tooth 


Dental 


Tear 


Lachrymal 


Vessel 


Vascular 


World 


Mundane 


Wood 


Sylvan, savage 


Way 


Devious, obvious, impervious 




trivial 


Worm 


Vermicular 


Whale 


Cutaceous 


Wife 


Uxorious 


Word 


Verbal, verbose 


Weak 


Hebdomadal 


Wall 


Mural 


Will 


Voluntary, spontaneous 


Winter 


Brumal 


Wound 


Vulnerary 


West 


Occidental 


War 


Martial 



HOW FOB3f£D. UBAKUIQ DIPFICT7LT. 



FO&KIGX AJ>iKCT1TES. 

WomeD FeminiDe, female, effexmoate 

Year Annual, anniversary, peren- 

nial, triennial 
Such are some of the adjectives introduced into our lan- 
guage from other nations. Ths list will enable you to dis- 
cover that when we have no adjective of our own to cor- 
respond with the noun, we borrow from our neighbors an 
adjective derived from one of their nouns, to which we give 
an oigUsh terminati<HL. For example : 



BmgU*kN0UM. 


Laiim Nomn. 


Adjectixe. 


Boy 


Poer 


Puerile 


Grief 


Dolor 


Dolorous 


Tbooght 


Pensa 


PeDsive 


Wife 


Uxor 


Uxorious 


Word 


Verbom 


Verbal, verbose 


Tear 


Annnm 


Annual 


Body 


Corpus 


Corporeal 


Head 


Caput 


Capital 


Church 


Kkklesia (Greei^) 


Ecclesiastical 


King 


Roi (Fremch) 


Royal 


Law 


Loi « 


Loyal 



It is exceedingly difficult to understand the adjectives of 
MmB with which we are familiar, from the &ct above 
stated, that they are derived from other languages, and not 
oar own. The most thoro scholars have found this task no 
easy afiair. ^fost grammarians have let it pass unobserved ; 
hot every person has seen the necesaty of some explanation 
upon this point, to afford a means of ascertaining the etymo- 
logical derrvatioo and meaning of these words. I would 
here enter Luther into this subject, but I am reminded that 
I am sorpaaaing the limits set me fortius course of lectures. 



82 - ON ADJECTIVES. 

The attention I have bestowed on this part of the present 
subject, will not be construed into a mere verbal criticism. 
It has been adopted to show you how, in the definition or 
description of things, the mind clings to one thing to gain 
some information concerning another. When we find a 
thing unlike any thing else we have ever known, in form, 
in size, in color, in every thing ; we should find it a difficult 
task, if not an impossibility, to describe it to another in a 
way to give any correct idea of it. Having never seen its 
like before, we can say little of its character. We may 
give it a wame, but that would not be understood. We 
could say it was as large as — no, it had no size ; that it 
was like — but no, it had no likeness ; that it resembled — 
no, it had no resemblance. How could we describe it ? 
What could we say of it ? Nothing at all. 

What idea could the Pacha of Egypt form of ice, having 
never seen any till the french chemists succeeded in freez- 
ing water in his presence ? They told him of ice ; that it 
was cold ; that it would freeze ; that whole streams were 
often frozen over, so that men and teams could walk over 
them. He believed no such thing — it was a " christian lie." 
This idea was confirmed on the first trial of the chemists, 
which failed of success. But when, on the second attempt, 
they succeeded, he was all in raptures. A new field was 
open before him. New ideas were produced in his mind. 
New qualities were learned ; and he could now form some 
idea of the ice bergs of the north ; o? frozen regions, which 
he had never seen ; oiicrj hearts, and storms o? frozen rain. 

We often hear it said, such a man is very stoical; an- 
other is an epicurean ; and another is a bacchanal, or hac- 
chanalian. But what idea should we form of such persons, 
if we had never read of the Stoics and their philosophy ; of 



OFTEN SUPERFLUOUS. 83 

Epicurus and his notious of happiness and duty ; or of Bac- 
chus, the god of wine and revelry, whose annual feasts, or 
Dionysia, were celebrated with the most extravagant licen- 
tiousness thro out Greece and Rome, till put down by the 
Senate of the latter. 

You can not fail to see the importance of the knowledge 
on which we here insist. The meaning you attach to words 
is exceedingly diverse ; and hence you are not always able 
to think alike, or understand each other, nor derive the same 
sentiment from the same language. The contradictory opin- 
ions which exist in the world may be accounted for, in a 
great measuire, in this way. Our knowledge of many things 
of which we speak, is limited, either from lack of means, or 
disposition to employ them. People always differ and con- 
tend most about things of which they know the least. Did 
we all attach the same meaning to the same words, our 
opinions would all be the same, as true as the forty-fifth 
problem of Euclid. How important, then, that children 
should always be taught the same meaning of words, and 
learn to use them correctly. Etymology, viewed in this 
light, is a most important branch of science. 

Whenever a word is sufficiently understood, no adjective 
should be connected with it. There is a ridiculous prac- 
tice among many people, of appending to every noun one or 
more adjectives, which have no other effect than to expose 
their own folly. Some writers are so in the habit of an- 
nexing adjectives to all nouns, that they dare not use one 
without. You will not unfrequently see adjectives different 
in form, added to a noun of very similar meaning ; as, sad 
melancholy, an ominous sign, this mundane earth, pensive 
thoughts. 



B4 ON ADJECTIVES. 

When words can be obtained, which not only name the 
object, but also describe its properties, it should be preferred 
to a noun with an adjective ; as pirate, for sea robber ; sa. 
van, for a learned or wise man.* 

In relation to that class of adjectives derived from verbs, 
we will be brief. They include what have been termed parti- 
ciples, not a distinct " part of speech," but by some included 
in the verbs. We use them as adjectives to describe things 
as standing in some relation to other things on the account 
of the action expressed by the verb from which they are 
derived. " The man is respected." Respected, in this case, 
describes the man in such a relation to those who have be- 
come acquainted with his good qualities, that he now re- 
ceives their respect. He is respectable, {able to command, 
or worthy of respect,) and of course, respected for his re- 
spectability. To avoid repetition, we select different words 
to assist in the expression of a complex idea. But I indulge 
in phrases like the above, to show the nice shades of mean- 
ing in the common use of words, endeavoring to analyze, as 
far as possible, our words and thoughts, and show their mu- 
tual connexion and dependencies. 

What has been termed the " present participle" is also 
an adjective, describing things in their present condition in 



* In this respect, many foreign languages possess a great advan- 
tage over ours. They can augment or diminish the same word to 
increase or lessen the meaning. For instance ; in the Spanish, we 
can say Homhre, a man ; Homhron, a large man ; Hombrecito, a 
young man, or youth ; Homhrecillo, a miserable little man ; Pa- 
garo, a bird ; Pagarito, a pretty little bird ; Perro, a dog ; Perril- 
lo, an ugly little dog ; Perrazo, a large dog. 

The Indian languages admit of diminutives in a similar way. In 
the Delaware dialect , they are formed by the suffix tit, in the class 
of animate nouns ; but by es, to the inanimate ; as, Senno, a man ; 
Sennotit, a little man ; Wikwam, a house ; Wikwames, a small 
house- — Enc. Amer. Art, Indian Languages, vol. 6, p. 586. 



PREPOSITIONS. 85 

reference to actions. " The man is writing." Here, writ- 
ing describes the man in his present employment. But the 
consideration of this matter more properly belongs to the 
construction of sentences. 

There is another class or variety of words properly be- 
longing to this division of grammar, which may as well be 
noticed in this place as any other. I allude to those words 
generally called " Prepositions." We have not time now 
to consider them at large, but will give you a brief view of 
our opinion of them, and reserve the remainder of our re- 
marks till we come to another part of these lectures. 

Most of the words called prepositions, in books of gram- 
mar, are participles, derived from verbs, many of which are 
still in use, but some are obsolete. They are used in the 
true character of adjectives, describing one thing hy its rela- 
tion to another. But their meaning has not been generally 
understood. Our dictionaries have afforded no means by 
which we can trace their etymology. They have been re- 
garded as a kind of cement to stick other words together, 
having no meaning or importance in themselves.* Until 
their meaning is known, we can not reasonably expect to 
draw them from their hiding places, and give them a re- 
spectable standing in the transmission of thought. 

Many words, from the frequency of their use, fail to at- 
tract our attention as much as those less employed ; not be- 
cause they are less important, but because they are so fa- 

* Mr. Harris, in his " Hermes," says, " A preposition is a part of 
speech, devoid itself of signification ; but so formed as to unite two 
words that are significant, and that refuse to coalesce or unite them- 
selves." 

Mr. Murray says, " Prepositions serve to connect words with one 
aaother, aud show the relation between them." 
H 



86 ON ADJECTIVES. 

miliarly known that the operations of thought are not ob- 
served in the choice made of them to express ideas. If we 
use words of which httle is known, we ponder well before 
we adopt them, to determine whether the senss usually at- 
tached to them accords exactly with the notions we desire 
to convey by them. The same can not be said of small 
words which make up a large proportion of our language, 
and are, in fact, more necessary than the others, in as much 
as their meaning is more generally known. Those who em- 
ploy carriages to convey their bodies, observe little of their 
construction, unless there is something singular or fine in 
their appearance. The common parts are unobserved, yet 
as important as the small words used in the common con- 
struction of language, the vehicle of thought. As the apos- 
tle says of the body politic, "those members of the body, 
which seem to be more feeble, are necessary ;" so the words 
least understood by grammarians are most necessary in the 
correct formation of language. 

It is an easy matter to get along with the words called 
prepositions, after they are all learned by rote ; but when 
their meaning and use are inquired into, the best grammari- 
ans have little to say of them. 

A list of prepositions, alphabetically arranged, is found in 
nearly every grammar, which scholars are required to com- 
mit to memory, without knowing any thing of their mean- 
ing or use, only that they are prepositions when an objec- 
tive word comes after them, because the hooks say so ; but 
occasionally the same words occur as adverbs and adjec- 
tives. There is, however, no trouble in " parsing" them, 
unless the list is forgotten. In that case, you will see the 
pupil, instead of inquiring after the meaning and duty of the 
word, go to the book and search for it in the lists of prepo- 



MEANING OF PREPOSITIONS. WITH. 87 

sitions or conjunctions ; or to the dictionary, to see if there 
is a *^prep." appended to it. What will children ever learn 
ot' language in this way ? Of what avail is all such gram. 
mar teaching ? As soon as they leave school it is all for- 
gotten ; and you will hear them say, at the very time they 
should be reaping the harvest of former toil, that they once 
understood grammar, but it is all gone from them. Poor 
souls ! their memory is very treacherous, else they have 
never learned language as they ought. There is a fault 
somewhere. To us it is not difficult to determine where 
it is. 

That certain words are prepositions, there can be no doubt, 
because the books say they are ; but why they are so, is 
quite another matter. All we desire is to have their mean- 
ing understood. Little difficulty will then be found in de. 
termining their use. 

I have said they are derived from verbs, many of which 
are obsolete. Some are still in use, both as verbs and 
nouns. Take for example the word with. This word 
signifies joined or united. It is used to show that two things 
are some how joined together so that they are spoke of in 
connexion. It frequently occurs in common conversation, 
as a verb and noun, but not as frequently in the books as 
formerly. The farmer says to his hired man, " Go and get 
a withe and come and withe up the fence ;" that is, get some 
pliant twigs of tough wood, twist them together, and withe 
or bind them round these posts, so that one may stand firm 
withf or withed to, the other. A book with a cover, is one 
that has a cover joined, bound, or attached to it. " A 
father with a son, a man with an estate, a nation with a con- 
stitution." la all such cases with expresses the relation 



88 ON ADJECTIVES. 

between the two things mentioned, produced by a union or 
connexion with each other.* 

In is used in the same way. It is still retained as a 
noun and is suspended on the signs of many public houses. 
" The traveller's mw," is a house where travellers in them- 
selves, or go in, for entertainment. It occurs frequently in 
Shakspeare and in more modern writers, as a verb, and is 
still used in common conversation as an imperative. " Go, 
in the crops of grain." "/w with you." "J?iwithito" 
In describes one thing by its relation to another, which is the 
business of adjectives. It admits of the regular degrees of 
comparison ; as, in, inner, innermost or inmost. It also has 
its compounds. Jwstep, the inner part of the foot, mlet, in- 
vestment, inheritance. In this capacity it is extensively 
used under its different shades of meaning which I cannot 
stop to notice. 

Of signifies divided, separated, or parted, " The ship is 
o^the coast." " I am bound off, and you are bound owi." 
" A part of a pencil," is that part which is separated from 
the rest, implying that the act of separating, or offing, has 
taken place. "A branch o/" the tree." There is the tree ; 
this branch is from it. " Our communication was broken off 
several years ago." " Sailors record their o^ings, and pa- 
rents love their q^spring," or those children which sprung 

* "Me thou shalt use in what thou wilt, and doe that with a 
slender twist, that none can doe with a tough witk.'^ 

Euphues and his England, p. 136. 

•' They had arms under the straw in the boats, and had cut the 
withes that held the oars of the town boats, to prevent any pur- 
suit." Ludlow'' s Memoirs, p. 435. 

" The only furniture belonging to the houses, appears to be an 
oblong vessel made of bark, by tying up the ends with a withe." 
Cooke's Description of Botany Bay. 



OF. OUT. 



89 



from them.* "We also are his offspring ;" that is, sprung 
from God.f In all these, and every other case, you will per- 
ceive the meaning of the word, and its office will soon ap- 
pear essential in the expression of thought. Had all the 
world been a compact whole, nothing ever separated from 
it, we could never speak of a part of it, for we could never 
have such an idea. But we look at things, as separated, 
divided, parted ; and speak of one thing as separated from 
the others. Hence, when we speak of the part of the earth 
we inhabit, we, in imagination, separate it from some other 
partf or the general whole. We can not use this word in 
reference to a thing which is indivisible, because we can con- 
ceive no idea of a part of an indivisible thing. We do not 
say, a portion of our mind taken as a whole, but as capable 
of division. A share of our regards, supposes that the re- 
mainder is reserved for something else. 

Out, outer or utter, outermost or utmost, admits of the 
same remark as in. 

In this manner we might explain a long list of words, 
called adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions. But I for- 
bear, for the present, the further consideration of this sub- 
ject, and leave it for another lecture. 

* See Galatians, chap. 1, verse 15. " When it pleased God, who 
separated me," &c. 

t Acts, xvii, 28. 



LECTURE VII. 
ON ADJECTIVES. 



Adjectives. — How formed. — The syllable ly. — Formed from proper 
nouns.— The apostrophe and letter s. — Derived from pronouns. — 
Articles. — A comes from an. — /^definite. — The. — Meaning of a 
and the. — Murray's example. — That. — ^What. — " Pronoun adjec- 
tives." — Mon, ma. — Degrees of comparison. — Secondary adjec 
tives. — Prepositions admit of comparison. 



We resume the consideration of Adjectives. The innport- 
ance of this class of words in the expression of our thoughts, 
is my excuse for bestowing upon it so much labor. Had 
words always been used according to their primitive mean- 
ing, there would be little danger of being misunderstood. 
But the fact long known, ^^Verha mutanter" — words change 
— has been the prolific source of jpnuch of the diversity of 
opinion, asperity of feeling, and apparent misconstruction of 
other's sentiments, which has disturbed society, and dis- 
graced mankind. I have, in a former lecture, alluded to 
this point, and call it up in this place to prepare your minds 
to understand what is to be said on the secondary use of 
words in the character of adjectives. 

I have already spoken of adjectives in general, as derived 
from nouns and verbs, and was somewhat particular upon 
the class sometimes called prepositions, which describe one 
thing by its relation to another, produced by some action 
which has placed them in such relation. We will now pass 



HOW FORMED. LY. LIKE. 91 

to examine a little more minutely into the character and use 
of certain adjectives, and the manner of their derivation. 

We commence with those derived from nouns, both com- 
mon and proper, which are somewhat peculiar in their cha- 
racter. I wish you distinctly to bear in mind the use of ad- 
jectives. They are words added to nouns to define or de- 
scribe them. 

Many words which name things, are used as adjectives, 
with out change ; as, ox beef, heef cattle, paper books, straio 
hats, bonnet paper. Others admit of change, or addition ; 
as, nationaZ character, a merci/wZ (mercy ^wZ) man, a gloomy/ 
prospect, a famow5 horse, a goldew ball. The syllables 
whicli are added, are parts of words, which are at first com- 
pounded with them, till, by frequency of use, they are in- 
corporated into the same word. " A merci/iiZ man" is one 
who is full of mercy. A golden ball is one made of gold. 
This word is sometimes used without change ; as, a gold 
ring. 

A numerous portion of these words take the syllable ly, 
contracted from like, which is still retained in many words ; 
as, Judas-Z?!^, l^dj-like, gentleman-Zi^e. These two last 
words, are of late, occasionally used as other words, ladyZy, 
gentlemanZy ; but the last more frequently than the former. 
She behaved very ladiZi/, or ladyZ<"A:e ; and his appearance 
was quite gentlemanZj/. But to say ladiZz/ appearance, does 
not yet sound quite soft enough ; but it is incorrect only be- 
cause it is uncommon. GodZj/ and godZiAre are both in use, 
and equally correct, with a nice shade of difference in 
meaning. 

All grammarians have found a difficulty in the word like, 
which they were unable to unravel. They could never ac- 
count for its use in expressing a relation between two objec- 



92 ON ADJECTIVES. 

lives. They forgot that to be like, one thing must be likened 
to another, and that it was the very meaning of this word to 
express such Yikeness, John looks like his brother. The 
looks, the countenance, or appearance of John, are likened 
to his brother's looks or appearance. " This machine is 
more like the pattern than any I have seen." Here the 
adjective like takes the comparative degree, as it is called, 
to show a nearer resemblance than has been before observed 
between the things compared. " He has a statesman- 
like appearance." I like this apple, because it agrees with 
my taste ; it has qualities like my notion of what is palate- 
able." In every situation the word is used to express like- 
ness between two things. It describes one thing by its like- 
ness to another. 

Many adjectives are formed from proper nouns by add- 
ing an apostrophe and the letter s, except when the word 
ends in s, in which case the final s is usually omitted for 
the sake of euphony. This, however, was not generally 
adopted by old writers. It is not observed in the earliest 
translations of the Bible into the english language. It is 
now in common practice. Thus, Montgomery's monument 
in front of St. Paul's church ; Washington's funeral ; Shay's 
rebelion ; England's bitterest foes; Hamlet's father's ghost ; 
Peter's wife's mother ; Todd's, Walker's, Johnson's diction- 
ary ; Winchell's Watts' hymns ; Pond's Murray's grammar. 
No body would suppose that the " relation of property or 
possession" was expressed in these cases, as our grammar 
books tell us, but that the terms employed are used to de- 
fine certain objects, about which we are speaking. They 
possess the true character and use of adjectives, and as 
such let them be regarded. It must be as false as frivolous 
to say that Montgomery, who nobly fell at the siege of 



DERIVED FROM PROPER NOUNS. 93 

Quebec, owns the monument erected over his remains, which 
were conveyed to New-York many years after his death ; 
or that St. Paul owns or possesses the church beneath which 
they were deposited ; that Hamlet owned his father, and 
his father his ghost ; that Todd owns Walker, and Walker 
owns Johnson, and Johnson his dictionary which may have 
had a hundred owners, and never been the property of its 
author, but printed fifty years after his death. These words, 
I repeat, are merely definitive terms, and like others serve 
to point out or specify particular objects which may thus be 
better known. 

Words, however, in common use form adjectives the 
same as other words ; as, Russia iron, China ships, India 
silks, Vermont cheese, Orange county butter, New- York 
flour, Carolina potatoes. Morocco leather was first manu- 
factured in a city of Africa called by that name, but it is 
now made in almost every town in our country. The same 
may be said of Leghorn hats, Russia binding, French shoes, 
and China ware. Although made in our own country, we 
still retain the words, morocco, leghorn, russia, french, and, 
china, to define the fashion, kind, or quality of articles to 
which we allude. Much china ware is made in Liverpool, 
which, to distinguish it from the real, is called liverpool 
china. Many french shoes are made in Lynn, and many 
Roxbury russets, Newton pippins, and Rhode-Island green- 
ings, grow in Vermont. 

It may not be improper here to notice the adjectives de- 
rived from pronouns, which retain so much of their charac- 
ter as relates to the persons who employ them. These are 
jny, thy, Jiis, her, its, our, your, their, whose. This is my 
book, that is your pen, this is his knife, and that is her let- 
ter. Some of these, like other words, vary their ending 



94 ON ADJECTIVES. 

when standing alone ; as, two apples are your^, three her*, 
six theirs, five our*, and the rest mine. Mis does not alter 
in popular use. Hence the reason vvhy you hear it so often, 
in common conversation, when standing without the noun 
expressed, pronounced as if written liisen. The word other, 
and some others, come under the same remark. When the 
nouns specified are expressed, they take the regular termi- 
nation ; as, give me these Baldwin apples, and a few others 
— a few other apples. 

There is a class of small words which from the frequen- 
cy of their use have, like pronouns, lost their primitive 
character, and are now preserved only as adjectives. Let 
us examine a few of them by endeavoring to ferret out their 
true meaning and application in the expression of ideas. 
We will begin with the old articles, a, an, and the, by test- 
ing the truth and propriety of the duty commonly assigned 
to them in our grammars. 

The standard grammar asserts that " an article is a word 
prefixed to substantives, to point them out, and to show how 
far their signification extends ; as, " a garden, an eagle, the 
woman." Skepticism in grammar is no crime, so we will 
not hesitate to call in question the correctness of this "best 
of all grammars beyond all comparison." Let us consider 
the very examples given. They were doubtless the best 
that could be found. Docs a " point out" the garden, or 
" show how far its signification extends ?" It does neither 
of these things. It may name"«?2?/" garden, and it cer- 
tainly does not define whether it is a great or a small one. 
It simply determines that one garden is the subject of re- 
mark. All else is to be determined by the word garden. 



ARTICLES. ETYMOLOGY OF A. 95 

We are told there are are two articles, the one zndefinite, 
the other definite — a is the former, and the the latter. I 
shall leave it with you to reconcile the apparent contradic- 
tion of an indefinite article which " is used in a vague sense, 
to point out the signification of another word." But I chal- 
lenge teachers to make their pupils comprehend such a jar- 
gon, if they can do it themselves. But it is as good sense 
as we find in many of the popular grammars of the day. 

Again, Murray says " a becomes an before a vowel or 
silent A;" and so say all his simplifying satellites after him. 
Is such the fact ? Is he right ? He is, I most unqualifiedly 
admit, with this little correction, the addition of a single 
word — he is right wrong ! Instead of a becoming an, the 
reverse is the fact. The word is derived directly from the 
same word which still stands as our first numeral. It was a 
short time since written ane, as any one may see by con- 
suiting all old books. By and by it dropped the e, and af- 
terwards, for the sake of euphony, in certain cases, the w, 
so that now it stands a single letter. You all have lived 
long enough to have noticed the changes in the word. 
Formerly we said an union, an holiday, an universalist, an 
unitarian, &c., expressions which are now rarely heard. 
We now say a union, &c. This single instance proves 
that arbitrary rules of grammar have little to do in the reg- 
ulation of language. Its barriers are of sand, soon re- 
moved. It will not be said that this is an unimportant mis- 
take, for, if an error, it is pernicious, and if a grammarian 
knows enough to say that a becomes an, he ought to know 
that he tells a falsehood, and that an becomes a under cer- 
tain circumstances. Mr. Murray gives the following ex- 
ample to illustrate the use of a. '* Give me a book ; that 
is, any book." How can the learner understand such a 



96 ON ADJECTIVES. 

rule ? How will it apply ? Let us try it. " A man has a 
wife ;" that is, any man has any wife. I have a hat; that 
is, any hat. A farmer has a farm — any farmer has any 
farm. A merchant in Boston has a beautiful piece of broad- 
cloth — any merchant in Boston has any beautiful piece of 
broadcloth. A certain king of Europe decreed a protestant 
to be burned — any king of Europe decreed any protestant 
to be burned. How ridiculous are the rules we have learned 
and taught to others, to enable them to " speak and write 
with propriety." No wonder we never understood gram- 
mar, if so at variance with truth and every day's experi- 
ence. The rules of grammar as usually taught can never 
be observed in practice. Hence it is called a dry study. 
In every thing else we learn something that we can under- 
stand, which will answer some good purpose in the affairs 
of life. But this branch of science is among the things 
which have been tediously learned to no purpose. No good 
account can be given of its advantages. 

The, we are told, " is called the definite article, because 
it ascertains what particular thing or things are meant." A 
most unfortunate definition, and quite as erroneous as the 
former. Let us try it. The stars shine, the lion roars, the 
camel is a beast of burden, the deer is good for food, the 
wind blows, the clouds appear, the Indians are abused. 
What is there in these examples, which " ascertain what 
-particular thing or things are meant ?" They are expres- 
sions as indefinite as we can imagine. 

On the other hand, should I say a star shines, a lion roars, 
an Indian is abused, a wind blows, a cloud appears, you 
would understand me to allude very definitely to one " par- 
ticular" object, as separate and distinguished from others of 
its kind. 



ETYMOLOGY AND MEANING OF A. 



97 



But what is the wonderful peculiarity in the meaning and 
use of these two little words that makes them so unlike 
every thing else, as to demand a separate " part of speech ?" 
You may be surprised when I tell you that there are other 
words in our language derived from the same source and 
possessed of the same meaning ; but such is the fact, as 
will soon appear. Let us ask for the etymology of these 
important words. A signifies one, never more, never less. 
In this respect it is always definite. It is sometimes ap- 
plied to a single thing, sometimes to a whole class of things, 
to a [one] man, or to a [one] hundred men. It may be 
traced thro other languages, ancient and modern, with little 
modification in spelling ; Greek eis, ein ; Latin unus ; 
Armoric unan ; Spanish and Italian uno ; Portuguese hum ; 
French un ; German ein ; Danish een, en ; Dutch een ; 
Swedish en; Saxon, an, aen, one — from which ours is 
directly derived — old English ane; and more modernly 
one, an, a. In all languages it defines a thing to be one, a 
united or congregated whole, and the word one may always 
be substituted without affecting the sense. From it is de- 
rived our word once, which signifies oned, united, joined, 
as we shall see when we come to speak of " contractions." 
In some languages a is styled an article, in others it is not. 
The Latin, for instance, has no article, and the Greek has 
no indefinite. But all languages have words which are 
like ours, pure adjectives, employed to specify certain 
things. The argument drawn from the fact that some other 
languages have articles, and therefore ours should, is falla- 
cious. The Latin, which was surpassed for beauty of style 
or power in deliverance by few, if any others, never suffer- 
ed from the lack of articles. Nor is there any reason why 



98 ON ADJECTIVES. 

we should honor two small adjectives with that high rank 
to the exclusion of others quite as worthy. 

The is always used as a definitive word, tho it is the least 
definite of the defining adjectives. In fact when we desire 
to " ascertain particularly what thing is meant," we select 
some more definite word. " Give me the books." Which ? 
" Those with red covers, that in calf, and this in Russia 
binding." The nations are at peace. What nations? 
Those which were at war. You perceive how we employ 
words which are more definite, that is, better understood, to 
" point ouf the object of conversation, especially when there 
is any doubt in the case.' What occasion, then, is there to 
give these [the ?] words a separate " part of speech," 
since in character they do not differ from others in the lan- 
guage ? 

We will notice another frivolous distinction made by Mr. 
Murray, merely to show how learned men may be mis- 
taken, and the folly of trusting to special rules in the gen- 
eral application of words. He says, " Thou art a man," 
is a very general and harmless expression ; but, thoii art 
the man, (as Nathan said to David,) is an assertion capable 
of striking terror and remorse into the heart." The dis- 
tjnction in meaning here, on which he insists, attaches to 
the articles a and the. It is a sufficient refutation of this 
definition to make a counter statement. Suppose we say, 
" Murray is the best grammarian in the world ; or, he is a 
fool, a knave, and a liar." Which, think you, would be 
considered the most harmless expression ? Suppose it had 
been said to Aaron Burr, thou art a traitor, or to General 
WiUiam Hull, thou art a coward, would they regard the 
phrase as " harmless /" On the other hand, suppose a 
beautiful, accomplished, and talented young lady, should 



ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. THAT. 99 

observe to one of her suitors, " I have received offers of 
marriage from several gentlemen besides yourself, but thou 
art THE man of my choice ;" would it, think you, strike 
terror and remorse into his heart ? I should pity the young 
student of Murray whose feehngs had become so stoical 
from the false teaching of his author as to be filled with 
" terror and remorse" under such favorable circumstances, 
while fair prospects of future happiness were thus rapidly 
brightening before him. I speak as to the wise, judge ye 
what I say. 

The adjective that has obtained a very extensive appli- 
cation in language. However, it may seem to vary in its 
different positions, it still retains its primitive meaning. It 
is comprised of ^7ie and it, thait, theat, thaet (Saxon,) thata 
(Gothic,) dat (Dutch.) It is the most decided definitive in 
our language. It is by use applied to things in the singu- 
lar, or to a multitude of things regarded as a whole. By 
use, it applies to a collection of ideas expressed in a sen- 
tence ; as, it was resolved, that. What 1 Then follows 
that fact which was resolved. " Provided that, in case he 
does" so and so. " It was agreed that,^ that fact was 
agreed to which is about to be made known. I wish you 
to understand, all thro these lectures, that I shall honestly 
endeavor to expose error and establish truth. Wish you 
to understand what ? that fad, afterwards stated, " I shall 
endeavor," &c. You can not mistake my meaning : that 
would be impossible. What would be impossible ? Why, 
to mistake my meaning. 

You can not fail to observe the true character of this 
word called by our grammarians " adjective pronoun," 
"relative pronoun," and "conjunction." They did not think 
to look for its meaning. Had that (duty) been done, it 



100 ON ADJECTIVES. 

would have stood forth in its true character, an important 
defining word. 

The only difficulty in the explanation of this word, origi- 
nates in the fact, that it was formerly applied to the plural 
as well as singular number. It is now applied to the sin- 
gular only when referring directly to an object ; as, that 
man. And it never should be used otherwise. But we often 
see phrases like this ; " These are the men that rebeled." 
It should be, " these are the men who rebeled." This diffi- 
culty can not be overcome in existing grammars on any 
other ground. In modern writings, such instances are rare. 
This and that are applied to the singular ; these and those 
to the plural. 

What is a compound of two original words, and often re- 
tains the meaning of both, when employed as a compound 
relative, *' having in itself both the antecedent and the 
relative," as our authors tell us. But when it is dissected, 
it will readily enough be understood to be an adjective, de- 
fining things under particular relations. 

But I shall weary your patience, I fear, if I stay longer 
in this place to examine the etymology of small words. I 
intended to have shown the meaning and use of many words 
included in the list of conjunctions, which are truly adjec- 
tives, such as hoth, as, so, neither, and, etc. ; but I let them 
pass for the present, to be resumed under the head of con- 
tractions. 

From the view we have given of this class of words, we 
are saved the tediousness of studying the grammatical distinc- 
tions made in the books, where no real distinctions exist. 
In character these words are like adjectives ; their meaning, 
like the meaning of all other words, is peculiar to them- 



PRONOUN ADJECTIVES. 101 

selves. Let that be known, and there will be little difficulty 
in classing them. We need not confuse the learner with 
" adjective pronouns, possessive adjective pronouns, distri- 
butive adjective pronouns, demonstrative adjective pronouns, 
indefinite adjective pronouns," nor any other adjective pro- 
nouns, which can never be understood nor explained. Child- 
ren will be slow to apprehend the propriety of a union of 
adjectives and pronouns, when told that the former is al- 
ways used with a noun, and newer for one ; and the latter al- 
ways/br a noun, but never with one ; and yet, that there is 
such a strange combination as a " distributive or indefinite 
adjective pronoun" — " confusion worse confounded." 

In the french language, the gender of adjectives is varied 
so as to agree with the nouns to which they belong. " Pos- 
sessive pronouns," as they are called, come under the same 
rule, which proves them to be in character, and formation, 
adjectives; else the person using them must change gen- 
der. The father says, ma (feminine) ^ZZe, my daughter ; 
and the mother, mon ( masculine) ^/5, my son ; the same as 
they would say, hon pere, good father ; donne mere, good 
mother ; or, in Latin, bonus pater, or bona mater ; or, in 
Spanish, bueno padre, buena madre. In the two last Ian- 
guages, as well as all others, where the adjectives vary the 
termination so as to agree with the noun, the same fact may 
be observed in reference to their " pronouns." If it is a 
fact that these words are pronouns, that is, stand for other 
nouns, then the father \s feminine, and the mother is mascu. 
line ; and whoever uses them in reference to the opposite 
sex must change gender to do so. 

Describing adjectives admit of variation to express differ- 
ent degrees of comparison. The regular degrees have been 



102 ON ADJECTIVES. 

reckoned three ; positive, comparative, and superlative. 

These are usually marked by changing the termination. 

The positive is determined by a comparison with other 

things; as, a great house, a small book, compared with others 

of their kind. This is truly a comparative degree. The 

comparative adds er ; as, a greater house, a smaller book. 

The superlative, est; as, the greate^i house, the smaller/ 

book. 

Several adjectives express a comparison less than the 

positive, others increase or diminish the regular degrees ; 

as, whiiisTi white, very white, pure white ; whiter, consider- 
able whiter, much whiter ; whitest, the very whitest, much 
the whitest beyond all comparison, so that there can be none 
whiter, nor so white. 

We make an aukward use of the words great and good, 
in the comparison of things ; as, a good deal, or great deal 
whiter ; a good many men, or a great many men. As we 
never hear of a small deal, or a bad deal whiter, nor of a 
bad many, nor little many, it would be well to avoid such 
phrases. 

The words which are added to other adjectives, to in- 
crease or diminish the comparison, or asist in their defini- 
tion, may properly be called secondary adjectives, for such 
is their character. They do not refer to the thing to be de- 
fined or described, but to the adjective which is affected, in 
some way, by them. They are easily distinguished from 
the rest by noticing this fact. Take for example : " A very 
dark red raw silk lady's dress handkerchief. The resolu- 
tion of this sentence would stand thus : 

A ( ) handkerchief. 

A ( ) red ( ) handkerchief. 

A ( ) dark red ( ) handkerchief. 



SECONDARY ADJECTIVES. 103 

A very dark red ( ) handkerchief. 

A very dark red ( ) silk ( ) handkerchief. 

A very dark red raw silk ( ) handkerchief. 

A very dark red raw silk ( ) dress handkerchief. 

A very dark red raw silk lady^s dress handkerchief. 

We might also observe that hand is an adjective, com- 
pounded by use with kerchief. It is derived from the french 
word couvrir, to cover, and chef, the head. It means a 
head dress, a cloth to cover, a neck cloth, a napkin. By 
habit we apply it to a single article, and speak of neck 
handkerchief. 

The nice shade of meaning, and the appropriate use of 
adjectives, is more distinctly marked in distinguishing colors 
than in any thing else, for the simple reason, that there is 
nothing in nature so closely observed. For instance, take 
the word green, derived from grain, because it is grain color, 
or the color of the fair carpet of nature in spring and sum- 
mer. But this hue changes from the deep grass green, to 
the light olive, and words are chosen to express the thousand 
varying tints produced by as many different objects. In the 
adaptation of language to the expression of ideas, we do not 
separate these shades of color from the things in which such 
colors are supposed to reside. Hence we talk oi grass, pea, 
olive, leek, verdigris, emerald, sea, and hotile green ; also, of 
light, dark, medium ; very light, or dark grass, pea, olive, or 
invisible green. 

Red, as a word, means rayed. It describes the appear- 
ance or substance produced when rayed, reddened, or radi- 
ated by the morning beams ^^f the sun, or any other radiat- 
ing cause. 

Wh is used for qu, in white, which means quite, quUed, 
quitted, cleared, cleansed of all color, spot, or stain. 



104 ON ADJECTIVES. 

Blue is another spelling for blew. Applied to color, it 
describes something in appearance to the sky, when the 
clouds arid mists are blown away, and the clear blue ether 
appears. 

You will be pleased with the following extract from an 
eloquent writer of the last century,* who, tho somewhat ex- 
travagant in some of his speculations, was, nevertheless, a 
close observer of nature, which he studied as it is, without 
the aid of human theories. The beauty of the style, and 
the correctness of the sentiment, will be a sufficient apology 
for its length. 

" We shall employ a method, not quite so learned, to 
convey an idea of the generation of colors, and the decora- 
position of the solar ray. Instead of examining them in a 
prism of glass, we shall consider them in the heavens, and 
there we shall behold the five primordial colours unfold 
themselves in the order which we have indicated. 

" In a fine summer's night, when the sky is loaded only 
with some light vapours, sufficient to stop and to refract the 
rays of the sun, walk out into an open plain, where the first 
fires of Aurora may be perceptible. You will first ob- 
serve the horizon whiten at the spot where she is to make 
her appearance ; and this radiance, from its colour, has 
procured for it, in the French language, the name of aube, 
(the dawn,) from the Latin word alba^ white. This white- 
ness insensibly ascends in the heavens, assuming a tint of 
yellow some degrees above the horizon ; the yellow as it 
rises passes into orange ; and this shade of orange rises up- 
ward into the lively vermilion, which extends as far as the 
zenith. From that point you will perceive in the heavens 

* St. Pierre's Studies of Nature.— Dr. Hunter's translation, pp. 
172-176. 



DEGREES OF COMPARISON OBSERVED IN COLORS. 105 

behind you the violet succeeding the vermilion, then the 
azure, after it the deep blue or indigo colour, and, last of all, 
the black, quite to the westward. 

" Though this display of colours presents a naultitude of 
intermediate shades, which rapidly succeed each other, yet 
at the moment the sun is going to exhibit his disk, the 
dazzling white is visible in the horizon, the pure yellow at 
an elevation of forty-five degrees ; the fire color in the zen- 
ith ; the pure blue forty-five degrees under it, toward the 
west ; and in the very west the dark veil of night still lin- 
gering on the horizon. I think I have remarked this pro- 
gression between the tropics, where there is scarcely any 
horizontal refraction to make the light prematurely en- 
croach on the darkness, as in our climates. 

" Sometimes the trade- winds, from the north-east or south- 
east, blow there, card the clouds through each other, then 
sweep them to the west, crossing and recrossing them over 
one another, like the osiers interwoven in a transparent bas- 
ket. They throw over the sides of this chequered work 
the clouds which are not employed in the contexture, roll 
them up into enormous masses, as white as snow, draw 
them out along their extremities in the form of a crupper, 
and pile them upon each other, moulding them into the 
shape of mountains, caverns, and rocks ; afterwards, as 
evening approaches, they grow somewhat calm, as if afraid 
of deranging their own workmanship. When the sun sets 
behind this magnificent netting, a multitude of luminous 
rays are transmitted through the interstices, which produce 
such an effect, that the two sides of the lozenge illuminated 
by them have the appearance of being girt with gold, and 
the other two in the shade seem tinged with ruddy orange. 
Four or five divergent streams of light, emanated from the 



106 ON ADJECTIVES. 

setting sun up to the zenith, clothe with fringes of gold the 
undeternninate summits of this celestial barrier, and strike 
with the reflexes of their fires the pyramids of the collateral 
aerial mountains^ which then appear to consist o? silver and 
vermilion. At this moment of the evening are perceptible,, 
amidst their redoubled ridges, a multitude of valleys extend- 
ing into infinity, and distinguishing themselves at their open- 
ing by some shade of flesh or of rose colour. 

" These celestial valleys present in their different contours 
inimitable tints of white, melting away into white, or shades 
lengthening themselves out without mixing over other shades. 
You see, here and there, issuing from the cavernous sides 
of those mountains, tides of light precipitating themselves, in 
ingots of gold and silver, over rocks of coral. Here it is a 
gloomy rock, pierced through and through, disclosing, be- 
yond the aperture, the pure azure of the firmament ; there 
It is an extensive strand, covered with sands of gold, stretch- 
ing over the rich ground of heaven ; poppy. coloured, scarlet^ 
and green as the emerald. 

" The reverberation of those western colours diffuses it- 
self over the sea, whose azure billows it glazes with saffron 
and purple. The mariners, leaning over the gunwale of 
the ship, admire in silence those aerial landscapes. Some- 
times this sublime spectacle presents itself to them at the 
hour of prayer, and seems to invite them to lift up their 
hearts with their voices to the heavens. It changes every 
instant into forms as variable as the shades, presenting ce- 
lestial colors and forms which no pencil can pretend to imi- 
tate, and no language can describe. 

" Travellers who have, at various seasons, ascended to 
the summits of the highest mountains on the globe, never 
could perceive, in the clouds below them, any thing but a 



ACTUAL DISTINCTIONS OF COLORS. 107 

gray and lead-colored surface, similar to that of a lake. 
The sun, notwithstanding, illuminated them with his whole 
light ; and his rays might there combine all the laws of re- 
fraction to which our systems of physics have subjected 
them. Hence not a single shade of color is employed in 
vain, through the universe ; those celestial decorations be- 
ing made for the level of the earth, their magnificent point 
of view taken frorp the habitation of man. 

" These admirable concerts of lights and forms, manifest 
only in the lower region of the clouds the least illuminated 
by the sun, are produced by laws with which I am totally 
unacquainted. But the whole are reducible to five colors : 
yellow, a generation from white ; red, a deeper shade of 
yellow ; blue, a strong tint of red ; and black, the extreme 
tint of blue. This progression cannot be doubted, on ob- 
serving in the morning the expansion of the light in the 
heavens. You there see those five colors, with their inter- 
mediate shades, generating each other nearly in this order : 
white, sulphur yellow, lemon yellow, yolk of egg yellow, 
orange, aurora color, poppy red, full red, carmine red, pur- 
ple, violet, azure, indigo, and black. Each color seems to 
be only a strong tint of that which precedes it, and a faint 
tint of that which follows ; thus the whole together appear 
to be only modulations of a progression, of which white is 
the first term, and black the last. 

" Indeed trade cannot be carried on to any advantage, 
with the Negroes, Tartars, Americans, and East-Indians, 
but through the medium of red cloths. The testimonies of 
travellers are unanimous respecting the preferenee univer- 
sally given to this color. I have indicated the universality 
of this taste, merely to demonstrate the falsehood of the phi- 
losophic axiom, that tastes are arbitrary, or that there are 



108 ON ADJECTIVES. 

in Nature no laws for beauty, and that our tastes are the 
effects of prejudice. The direct contrary of this is the truth ; 
prejudice corrupts our natural tastes, otherwise the same 
over the whole earth. 

" With red Nature heightens the brilliant parts of the 
most beautiful flowers. She has given a complete clothing 
of it to the rose, the queen of the garden : and bestowed 
this tint on the blood, the principle of life in animals : she 
invests most of the feathered race, in India, with a plumage 
of this color, especially in the season of love ; and there are 
few birds without some shades, at least, of this rich hue. 
Some preserve entirely the gray or brown ground of their 
plumage, but glazed over with red, as if they had been roll- 
ed in carmine ; others are besprinkled with red, as if you 
had blown a scarlet powder over them. 

" The red (or rayed) color, in the midst of the five primor- 
dial colors, is the harmonic expression of them by way of 
excellence ; arid the result of the union of two contraries, 
light and darkness. There are, besides, agreeable tints, 
compounded of the oppositions of extremes. For example, 
of the second and fourth color, that is, of yellow and blue, 
is formed green, which constitutes a very beautiful harmony, 
and ought, perhaps, to possess the second rank in beauty, 
a,mong colors, as it possesses the second in their generation. 
Nay, green appears to many, if not the most beautiful tint, 
at least the most lovely, because it is less dazzling than red, 
and more congenial to the eye." 

Many words come under the example previously given 
to illustrate the secondary character of adjectives, which 
should be carefully noticed by the learner, to distinguish 
whether they define or describe things, or are "added to in- 
crease the distinction made by the adjectives themselves, for 



PEEPOSITIONS ADMIT OF COMPARISON. 109 

both defining and describing adjectives admit of this addi- 
tion ; as, old English coin, New England rebeUon ; a naount- 
ed whip, and a gold mounted sword — not a gold sword ; a 
very fine Latin scholar. 

Secondary adjectives, also, admit of comparison in vari- 
ous ways ; as, dearly beloved, a more beloved, the hest be- 
loved, the very best beloved brother. 

Words formerly called " prepositions," admit of compari- 
son, as I have before observed. " Benhadad fled into an 
inner chamber." The inner temple. The mmost recesses 
of the heart. The out fit of a squadron. The outer coat- 
ing of a vessel, or house. The uimost reach of grammar. 
The up and down hill side of a field. The upper end of the 
lot. The upper??zo5^ seats. A part of the book. Take it 
farther off. The off cast. India beyond the Ganges. Far 
beyond the boundaries of the nation. I shall go to the city. 
I am near to the town. Near does not quaUfy the verb, for 
it has nothing to do with it. I can exist in one place as well 
cis another. It is below the surface ; very far below it. It 
is above the earth — " high above all height." 

Such expressions frequently occur in the expression of 
ideas, and are correctly understood ; as difficult as it may 
have been to describe them with the theories learned in the 
books — sometimes calling them one thing, sometimes an- 
other — when their character and meaning was unchanged, 
or, according to old systems, had " no meaning at all of their 
own !" 

But I fear I have gone far beyond your patience, and, 
perhaps, entered deeper into this subject than was necessary, 
to enable you to discover my meaning. I desired to make 
the subject as distinct as possible, that all might see the im- 
portant improvement suggested. I am apprehensive even 



110 ON ADJECTIVES. 

now, that some will be compelled to think many profound 
thoughts before they will see the end of the obscurity under 
which they have long been shrouded, in reference to the 
false rules which they have been taught. But we have one 
consolation — those who are not bewildered by the grammars 
they have tried in vain to understand, will not be very likely 
to make a wrong use of adjectives, especially if they have 
ideas to express ; for there is no more danger of mistaking 
an adjective for a noun, or verb, than there is of mistaking 
a horse chestnut for a chestnut horse. 

In our next we shall commence the consideration of Verbs, 
the most important department in the science of language, 
and particularly so in the system we are defending. I hope 
you have not been uninterested thus far in the prosecution 
of the subject of language, and I am confident you will not 
be in what remains to be said upon it. The science, so long 
regarded dry and uninteresting, becomes delightful and easy; 
new and valuable truths burst upon us at each advancing 
step, and we feel to bless God for the ample means afforded 
us for obtaining knowledge from, and communicating it to 
others, on the most important affairs of time and eternity. 






I 



LECTURE VIIL 



ON VERBS. 



Unpleasant to expose error. — Verbs defined. — Every thing acts. — 
Actor and object. — Laws. — Man. — Animals. — Vegetables. — Min- 
erals. — Neutrality degrading. — Nobody can explain a neuter verb. 
— One kind of verbs. — You must decide. — Importance of teach- 
ing children the truth. — Active verbs. — Transitive verbs false. — 
Samples. — Neuter verbs examined. — Sit. — Sleep. — Stand. — Lie. 
— Opinion of Mrs. W. — Anecdote. 



We now come to the consideration of that class of words 
which in the formation of language are called Verbs, You 
will allow me to bespeak your favorable attention, and to 
insist most strenuously on the propriety of a free and thoro 
examination into the nature and use of these words. I shall 
be under the necessity of performing the thankless task of 
exposing the errors of honest, wise, and good men, in order 
to remove difficulties which have long existed in works on 
language, and clear the way for a more easy and consist- 
ent explanation of this interesting and essential department 
of literature. I regret the necessity for such labors; but 
no person who wishes the improvement of mankind, or is 
wiUing to aid the growth of the human intellect, in its high 
aspirations after truth, knowledge, and goodness, should 
shrink from a frank exposition of what he deems to be er- 
ror, nor refuse his assistance, feeble tho it may be, in the 
establishment of correct principles. 



112 ON VERBS. 

In former lectures we have confined our remarks to 
things and a description of their characters and relations, 
so that every entity of which we can conceive a thought, 
or concerniog which we can form an expression, has been 
defined and described in the use of nouns and adjectives. 
Every thing in creation, of which we think, material or im- 
material, real or imaginary, and to which we give a name, 
to represent the idea of it, comes under the class of words 
called nouns. The words which specify or distinguish one 
thing from another, or describe its properties, character, or 
relations, are designated as adjectives. There is only one 
other employment left for words, and that is the expression 
of the actions, changes, or inherent tendencies of things. 
This important department of knowledge is, in grammar, 
classed under the head of Verbs. 

Verb is derived from the Latin verhum, which signifies a 
word. By specific application it is applied to those words 
only which express action, correctly understood ; the same 
as Bible, derived from the Greek " Milos^' means literally 
the book, but, by way of eminence, is applied to the sacred 
scriptures only. 

This interesting class of words does not deviate from the 
correct principles which we have hitherto observed in these 
lectures. It depends on established laws, exerted in the 
regulation of matter and thought ; and whoever would learn 
its sublime use must be a close observer of things, and the 
mode of their existence. The important character it sus. 
tains in the production of ideas of the changes and tenden. 
cies of things and in the transmission of thought, will be 
found simple, and obvious to all. 



EVERY THING ACTS. ACTOR AND OBJECT. 113 

Things exist ; Nouns name them. 

Things differ ; Adjectives define or describe them. 

Things act ; Verbs express their actions. 

All Verbs denote action. 



By action, we mean not only perceivable motion, but an 
inherent tendency to change, or resist action. It matters 
not whether we speak of animals possessed of the power of 
locomotion ; of vegetables, which send forth their branches, 
leaves, blossoms, and fruits ; or of minerals, which retain 
their forms, positions, and properties. The same principles 
are concerned, the same laws exist, and should be observed 
in all our attempts to understand their operations, or employ 
them in the promotion of human good. Every thing acts 
according to the ability it possesses ; from the small parti- 
cle of sand, which occupies its place upon the sea shore, up 
thro the various gradation of being, to the tall archangel, 
who bows and worships before the throne of the uncreated 
Cause of all things and actions which exist thro out his vast 
dominions. 

As all actions presuppose an actor, so every action must 
result on some object. No effect can exist without an ef- 
ficient cause to produce it ; and no cause can exist without 
a corresponding effect resulting from it. These mutual re- 
lations, helps, and dependencies, are manifest in all creation. 
Philosophy, religion, the arts, and all science, serve only to 
develope these primary laws of nature, which unite and 
strengthen, combine and regulate, preserve and guide the 
whole. From the Eternal I AM, the uncreated, self-exisl- 
ent, self-sustaining Cause of all things, down to the minutest 
particle of dust, evidences may be traced of the existence 



114 OK VERBS. 

and influence of these laws, in themselves irresistible, ex- 
ceptionless, and immutable. Every thing has a place and 
a duty assigned it ; and harmony, peace, and perfection are 
the results of a careful and judicious observance of the laws 
given for its regulation. Any infringement of these laws 
will produce disorder, confusion, and distraction. 

Man is made a little lower than the angels, possessed of 
a mind capable of reason, improvement, and happiness ; 
an intellectual soul inhabiting a mortal body, the connecting 
link between earth and heaven— the material and spiritual 
world. As a physical being, he is subject, in common with 
other things, to the laws which regulate matter : as an in- 
tellectual being, he is governed by the laws which regulate 
mind : as possessed of both a body and mind, a code of 
moral laws demand his observance in all the social relations 
and duties of life. Obedience to these laws is the certain 
source of health of body, and peace of mind. An infringe- 
ment of them will as certainly be attended with disease and 
suffering to the one, and sorrow and anguish to the other. 

Lower grades of animals partake of many qualities in 
common with man. In some they are deficient ; in others 
they are superior. Some animals are possessed of all but 
jeason, and even in that, the highest of them come very lit- 
tle short of the lowest of the human species. If they have 
not reason, they possess an instinct which nearly approaches 
It. These qualities dwindle down gradually thro the vari- 
ous orders and varieties of animated nature, to the lowest 
grade of animalculae, a multitude of which may inhabit a 
single drop of water; or to the zoophytes and lythophytes, 
which form the connecting link between the animal and 
vegetable kingdom; as the star-fish, the polypus, and 
spunges, -Then strike off into another kingdom, and ob- 



ANIMALS. VEGETABLES. MINERALS. 115 

serve the laws of vegetable life. Mark the tall pine which 
has grown from a small seed which sent forth its root down- 
wards and its trunk upwards, drawing nourishment from 
earth, air, and water, till it now waves its top to the passing 
breeze, a hundred feet above this dirty earth : or the oak 
or olive, which have maintained their respective positions a 
dozen centuries despite the operations of wind and weather, 
and have shed their foliage and their seeds to propagate 
their species and extend their kinds to different places. 
While a hundred generations have lived and died, and the 
country often changed masters, they resist oppression, scorn 
misrule, and retain rights and privileges which are slowly 
encroached upon by the inroads of time, which will one 
day triumph over them, and they fall helpless to the earth, 
to submit to the chemical operations which shall dissolve 
their very being and cause them to mingle with the com- 
mon dust, yielding their strength to give life and power to 
other vegetables which shall occupy their places.* Or mark 
the living principle in the " sensitive plant," which withers 
at every touch, and suffers long ere it regains its former 
vigor. 

Descend from thence, down thro the various gradations of 
vegetable life, till you pass the narrow border and enter the 
mineral world. Here you will see displayed the same sub- 
lime principle, tho in a modified degree. Minerals assume 
different shapes, hues and relations ; they increase and di- 



* It is reported on very good authority that the same olive trees 
are now standing in the garden of Gethsemane under which the 
Saviour wept and near which he was betrayed. This is rendered 
more probable from the fact, that a tax is laid, by the Ottoman 
Porte, on all olive trees planted since Palestine passed into the pos- 
session of the Turks, and that several trees standing in Gethsemane 
do not pay such tribute, while all others do. 



116 ON VERBS. 

minisb, attach and divide under various circumstances, all 
the while retaining their identity and properties, and exert- 
ing their abilities according to the means they possess, till 
compelled to yield to a superior power, and learn to submit 
to the laws which operate in every department of this mu- 
table world. 

Every thing acts according to the ability God has be- 
stowed upon it ; and man can do no more. He has author- 
ity over all things on earth, and yet he is made to depend 
upon all. His authority extends no farther than a privi- 
lege, under wholesome restrictions, of making the whole 
subservient to his real good. When he goes beyond this, he 
usurps a power which belongs not to him, and the destruc- 
tion of his happiness pays the forfeit of his imprudence. 
The injured power rises triumphant over the aggressor, and 
the glory of God's government, in the righteous and imme- 
diate execution of his laws, is clearly revealed. So long as 
man obeys the laws which regulate health, observes tem- 
perance in all things, uses the things of this world as not 
abusing them, he is at rest, he is blessed, he is happy : but 
no sooner has he violated heaven's law than he becomes the 
slave, and the servant assumes the master. But I am di- 
gressing. I would gladly follow this subject further, but 1 
shall go beyond my limits, and, it may be, your patience. 

I would insist, however, on the facts to which your at- 
tention has been given, for it is impossible, as I have before 
contended, to use language correctly without a knowledge 
of the things and ideas it- is employed to represent. 

GroveUing, indeed, must be the mind which will not trace 
the sublime exhibitions of Divine power and skill in all the 
operations of nature ; and false must be that theory which 
teaches the young mind to think and speak of neutrality as 



DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERBS FALSE. 117 

attached to things which do exist. As low and debasing as 
the speculations of the schoolnnen were, they gave to things 
which they conceived to be incapable of action, a principle 
which they called " vis inertice," or, poiver to lie still. Shall 
our systems of instruction descend below thenn, throw an 
insurnnountable barrier in the way of human improvement, 
and teach the false principles that actions can exist with- 
out an effect, or that there is a class of words which 
"express neither action or passion." Such a theory is at 
war v/ith the first principles of philosophy, and denies that 
" like causes produce hke effects." 

The ablest minds have never been able to explain the 
foundation of a '• neuter verb," or to find a single word, with 
a solitary exception, which does not, in certain conditions, 
express a positive action, and terminate on a definite object; 
and that exception we shall see refers to a verb which ex- 
presses the highest degree of conceivable action. Still they 
have insisted on three and some on four kinds of verbs, 6n6 
expressing action, another passion or suffering, and the 
third neutrality. We propose to offer a brief review of 
these distinctions, which have so long perplexed, not only 
learners, but teachers themselves, and been the fruitful 
source of much dissention among grammarians. 

It is lo be hoped you will come up to this work with as 
great candor as you have heretofore manifested, and as 
fully resolved to take nothing for granted, because it has 
l)een said by good or great men, and to reject nothing be- 
cause it appears new or singular. Let truth be our object 
and reason our guide to direct us to it. We can not fail 
of arriving at safe and correct conclusions. 

Mr. Murray tells us that " verbs are of three kinds, ac 
five, passive, and neuter. In a note he admits of " active 



118 ON VERBS. 

transitive and intransitive verbs,*' as a subdivision of his 
first kind. Most of his " improvers" have adopted this dis- 
tinction, and regard it as of essential importance. 

We shall contend, as before expressed, that all verbs are 
of one kind, that they express action, for the simple yet 
sublime reason, that every thing acts, at all times, and un- 
der every possible condition ; according to the true definition 
of action as understood and employed by all writers on 
grammar, and natural and moral science. Here we are at 
issue. Both, contending for principles so opposite, can not 
be correct. One or the other, however pure the motives, 
must be attached to a system wrong in theory, and of course 
pernicious in practice. You are to be the umpires m the 
case, and, if you are faithful to your trust, you will not be 
bribed or influenced in the least by the opinions of others. 
If divested of all former attachments, if free from all prejudice, 
there can be no doubt of the safety and correctness of your 
conclusions. But I am apprehensive I expect too much, if I 
place the new system of grammar on a footing equally fa- 
vorable in your minds with those you have been taught to 
respect, as the only true expositions of language, from your 
childhood up, and which are recommended to you on the 
authority of the learned and good of many generations. I 
have to combat early prejudices, and systems long consid- 
ered as almost sacred. But I have in my favor the common 
sense of the world, and a feeling of opposition to existing 
systems, which has been produced, not so much by a detec- 
tion of their errors, as by a lack of capacity, as the learner 
verily thought, to understand their profound mysteries. I 
am, therefore, willing to risk the final decision with you, if 
you will decide. But I am not willing to have you made 
the tools of the opposite party, determined, whether con- 



CHILDREN SHOULD BE TAUGHT TRUTH. 119 

vinced or not, to hold to your old neuter verb systems, right 
or wrong, merely because others are doing so. All I ask 
is your adoption of what is proved to be undeniably true, 
and rejection of whatever is found to be false. 

Here is where the matter must rest, for it will not be pre- 
tended that it is better to teach falsehood because it is an- 
cient and popular, than truth because it is novel. Teach- 
ers, in this respect, stand in a most responsible relation to 
their pupils. They should always insist with an unyielding 
pertinacity, on the importance of truth, and the evils of er- 
ror. Every trifling incident, in the course of education, 
which will serve to show the contrast, should be particu- 
larly observed. If an error can be detected in their books, 
they should be so taught as to be able to correct it ; and 
they should be so inclined as to be willing to do it. They 
should not be skeptics, however, but close observers, origi- 
nal thinkers, and correct reasoners. It is degrading to the 
true dignity and independence of man, to submit blindly to 
any proposition. Freedom of thought is the province of all. 
Children should be made to breathe the free air of honest 
inquiry, and to inhale the sweet spirit of truth and charity. 
They should not study their books as the end of learning, 
but as a means of knowing. Books should be regarded as 
lamps, which are set by the way side, not as the objects to 
be looked at, but the aids by which we may find the object 
of our search. Knowledge and usefulness constitute the 
leading motives in all study, and no occasion should be lost, 
no means neglected, which will lead the young mind to their 
possession. 

Your attention is now invited to some critical remarks on 
the distinctions usually observed in the use of verbs. Let 
us carefully examine the meaning of these three kinds and 



120 ON VERBS. 

see if there is any occasion for such a division ; if they have 
any foundation in truth, or application in the correct use of 
language. We will follow the arrangements adopted by 
the most popular grammars. 

" A verb active expresses an action, and necessarily im- 
plies an agent, and an object acted upon ; as, to love, I love 
Penelope." A very excellent definition, indeed ! Had 
grammarians stopped here, their works would have been 
understood, and proved of some service in the study of lan- 
guage. But when they diverge from this bright spot in the 
consideration of verbs — this oasis in the midst of a desert — 
they soon become lost in the surrounding darkness of con- 
jecture, and follow each their own dim light, to hit on a 
random track, which to follow in the pursuit of their object. 
We give our most hearty assent to the above definition 
of a verb. It expresses action, which necessarily implies 
an actor, and an object influenced by the action. In our 
estimation it matters not whether the object on which the 
action terminates is expressed or understood. If I love, I 
must love some object ; either my neighbor, my enemy, my 
family, myself, or something else. In either case the action 
is the same, tho the objects may be different ; and it is re- 
garded, on all hands, as an active verb. Hence when the 
object on which the action terminates is not expressed, it is 
necessarily understood. All language is, in this respect, 
more or less eliptical, which adds much to its richness and 
brevity. 

Active verbs, we are told, are divided into transitive and 
intransitive, Mr. Murray does not exactly approve of this 
distinction, but prefers to class the intransitive and neu- 
ter together. Others, aware of the fallacy of attempting to 
make children conceive any thing like neutrality in the 



I 



TRANSITIVE VERBS. 12^1 

verbs, run, fly, walk, live, &c., have preferred to mark the 
distinction and call them zntransitive; because, say they, they 
do not terminate on any object expressed. 

A transitive verb " expresses an action which passes from 
the agent to the object; as, Csesar conquered Pompey." 
To this definition we can not consent. It attempts a dis- 
tinction where there is none. It is not true in principle, and 
can not be adopted in practice. 

" Caesar conquered Pompey." Did the act of conquering 
pass transitively over from CcBsar to Pompey ? They might 
not have seen each other during the whole battle, nor been 
within many miles of each other. They, each of them, 
stood at the head of their armies, and alike gave orders to 
their subordinate officers, and they again to their inferiors, 
and so down, each man contending valiantly for victory, till, 
at last, the fate of the day sealed the downfall of Pompey, 
and placed the crown of triumph on the head of Caesar. The 
expression is a correct one, but the action" expressed by the 
verb *' conquered," is not transitive, as that term is under- 
stood. A whole train of causes was put in operation which 
finally terminated in the defeat of one, and the conquest of 
the other. 

"Bonaparte lost the battle of Waterloo." What did he 
do to lose the battle ? He exerted his utmost skill to gain 
the battle and escape defeat. He did not do a single act, 
he entertained not a single thought, which lead to such a 
result ; but strove against it with all his power. If the fault 
was his, it was because he failed to act, and not because he 
labored to lose the battle. He had too much at stake to 
adopt such a course, and no man but a teacher of grammar, 
would ever accuse him of acting to lose the battle. 

K 



122 ON VERBS. 

" A man was sick ; he desired to recover (his health). 
He took for medicine, opium by mistake, and lost his life 
by it." Was he guilty of suicide ? Certainly, if our gram- 
mars are true. But he lost his life in trying to get well. 

" A man in America possesses property in Europe, and 
his children inherit it after his death." What do the child- 
ren do to inherit this property, of which they know nothing? 

" The geese, by their gabbling, saiwd Rome from de- 
struction." How did the geese save the city ? They made 
a noise, which waked the sentinels, who roused the soldiers 
to arms ; they fought, slew many Gauls, and delivered the 
city. 

"A man in New- York transacts business in Canton." 
How does he do it ? He has an agent there to whom he 
sends his orders, and he transacts the business. But how 
does he get his letters ? The clerk writes them, the post- 
man carries them on board the ship, the captain commands 
the sailors, who work the ropes which unfurl the sails, the 
wind blows, the vessel is managed by the pilot, and after a 
weary voyage of several months, the letters are delivered 
to the agent, who does the business that is required of him. 

The miser denies himself every comfort, and spends his 
whole life in hoarding up riches ; and yet he dies and leaves 
his gold to be the possession of others. 

Christians suffer insults almost every day from the Turks. 

Windows admit light and exclude cold. 

Who can discover any thing like transitive action — a 
passing from the agent to the object — in these cases ? What 
transitive action do the windows perform to admit the light ; 
or the christians, to suffer insults ; or the miser, to leave his 
money 1 If there is neutrality any where, we would look for 
it here. The fact is, these words express relative action, as 



NEUTER VEBBS. SIT. 123 

we shall explain when we come to the examination of the 
true character of the verb. 

Neutrality signifies (transitive verb !) no action, and neM- 
ter verbs express a state of being ! A class of words which 
can not act, which apply to things in a quiescent state, per- 
form the transitive action of" expressing a state of being !" 

Who does not perceive the inconsistency and folly of such 
distinctions ? And who has not found himself perplexed, if 
not completely bewildered in the dark and intricate laby- 
rinths into which he has been led by the false grammar 
books ! Every attempt he has made to extricate himself, by 
the dim light of the " simplifiers," has only tended to be- 
wilder him still more, till he is utterly confounded, or else 
abandons the study altogether. 

An intransitive verb " denotes action which is confined to 
the actor, and does not pass over to another object ; as, I 
sit, he lives, they sleep." 

" A verb neuter expresses neither action nor passion, but 
being, or a state of being ; as, I am, I sleep, I sit." 

These verbs are nearly allied in character ; but we will 
examine them separately and fairly. The examples are 
the same, with exception of the verb to be, which we will 
notice by itself, and somewhat at large, in another place. 

Our first object will be to ascertion the meaning and use 
of the words which have been given as samples of neutral- 
ity. It is unfortunate for the neuter systems that they can 
not define a " neuter verb" without making it express an ac- 
tion which terminates on some object. 

" The man sits in his chair." 

Sits, we are told, is a neuter verb. What does it mean ? 
The man places himself in a sitting posture in his seat. He 



124 ON VERBS. 

keeps himself in his chair by muscular energy, assisted by 
gravitation. The chair upholds him in that condition. Bring 
a small child and sit it (active verb,) in a chair beside him. 
Can it sit ? No ; it falls upon the floor and is injured. Why 
did it fall ? It was not able to keep itself from falling. The 
lady fainted and/*eZZ from her seat. If there is no action in 
sitting, why did she not remain as she was ? A company of 
ladies and gentlemen from the boarding school and college, 
entered the parlor of a teacher of neuter verbs ; and he 
asked them to sit down, or be seated. They were neutral. 
He called them impolite. But they replied, that sit " ex- 
presses neither action nor passion," and hence he could not 
expect them to occupy his seats. 

" Sit or set it away ; sit near me ; sit farther along ; sit 
still ;" are expressions used by every teacher in addressing 
his scholars. On the system we are examining, what would 
they understand by such inactive expressions ? Would he 
not correct them for disobeying his orders? But what did 
he order them to do ? Nothing at all, if sit denotes no ac- 
tion. 

*' I sat me down and wept." 

" He sat Mm down by a pillar's base, 

And drew his hand athwart his face." — Byron. 

" Then, having shown his wounds, he'd sit him down, 
And, all the live long day, discourse of war." 

Tragedy of Douglass. 

But wherefore sits he there ? 
Death on my state ! This act convinces me 
That this retiredness of the duke and her, 
Is plain contempt." — King Lear. 

" Sitting, the act of resting on a seat. 

Session, the act of sitting. ^^ — Johnson's Dictionary. 



NEUTER VERBS. SLEEP. 125 

^' I skep." 

Is sleep a neuter verb ? So we are gravely told by our 
authors. Can grammarians follow their own rules 1 If so, 
they may spend the "live long night" and "its waking 
hours," without resorting to " tired nature's sweet restorer, 
balmy sleep ;" for there is no process under heaven where- 
by they can procure sleep, unless they sleep it. For one, I 
can never sleep without sleeping sleep — sometimes only a 
short nap. It matters not whether the object is expressed 
or not. The action remains the same. 'I'The true object is 
necessarily understood, and it would be superfluous to name 
it. Cases, however, often occur where, both in speaking 
and writing, it becomes indispensable to mention the object. 
" The stout hearted have slept their sleep." " They shall 
sleep the sleep of death." " They shall sleep the perpetual 
sleep, and shall not awake." ^^Sleep on now and take your 
rest." The child was troublesome and the mother sung it 
to sleep, and it slept itself quiet. A lady took opium and 
slept herself to death. " Many persons sleep themselves 
into a kind of unnatural stupidity." Rip Van Winkle, ac- 
cording to the legend, slept away a large portion of a com- 
mon life. 

" Sleep, sleep to-day, tormenting cares." 

•' And sleep dull cares away." 

Was your sleep refreshing last night ? How did you pro- 
cure it ? Let a person who still adheres to his neuter verbs, 
that sleep expresses no action, and has no object on which 
it terminates, put his theory in practice ; he may as well 
sleep with his eyes open, sitting up, as to lie himself upon his 
bed. 



126 ON VERBS. 

A man lodged in an open chamber, and while he was 
sleeping (doing nothing) he caught a severe cold (active 
transitive verb) and had a long run of the fever. Who 
does not see, not only the bad, but also the false philosophy 
of such attempted distinctions. How can you make a child 
discover any difference in the act of sleeping, whether there 
is an object after it, or not ? Is it not the same ? And is not 
the object necessarily implied, whether expressed or not ? 
Can a person sleep, without procuring sleep ? 

''I stand:' 

The man stands firm in his integrity. Another stands in 
a very precarious condition, and being unable to retain his 
\\o\di, falls down the precipice and is killed. Who is killed ? 
The man, surely. Why did he fall ? Because he could not 
stand. But there is no action in standing, say the books. 

" Stand by thyself, come not near me ?" " Stand fast 
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and he 
not again entangled in the yoke of bondage." "Let him 
that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall:' If it re- 
quires no act to stand, there can be no danger of falling. 

" Two pillars stood together ; the rest had fallen to the 
ground. The one on the right was quite perfect in all its 
parts. The other resembled it very much, except it had lost 
its capital, and suffered some other injuries." How could 
the latter column, while performing no action in standing, 
act transitively, acording to our grammars, and do something 
to resemlle the other ? or, what did it do to lose its capital, 
and suffer other injury ? 

''To lie, oi' lay:' 

It has been admitted that the verbs before considered are 
often used as active verbs, and that there is, in truth, action 



NEUTER VERBS. LIE. 127 

expressed by them. But when the man has fallen from his 
seat and lies upon the floor, it is contended that he no long- 
er acts, and that lie expresses no action. He has ceased 
from physical, muscular action regulated by his will, and 
is now subject to the common laws which govern matter. 

Let us take a strong example. The book lies or lays 
on the desk. Now you ask, does that book perform any 
action in laying on the desk ? I answer, yes ; and I will 
prove it on the principles of the soundest philosophy, to the 
satisfaction of every one present. Nor will I deviate from 
existing grammars to do it, so far as real action is con- 
cerned. 

The book lies on the desk. The desk supports the book. 
Will you parse supports ? It is, according to every system, 
an active transitive verb. It has an objective case after it 
on which the action terminates. But what does the desk 
do to support the book 1 It barely resists the action which 
the book performs in lying on it. The action of the desk 
and book is reciprocal. But if the book does not act, nei- 
ther can the desk act, for that only repels the force of the 
book in pressing upon it in its tendency towards the earth, 
in obedience to the law of gravitation. And yet our au- 
thors have told us that the desk is active in resisting no ac- 
tion of the book ! No wonder people are unable to under- 
stand grammar. It violates the first principles of natural 
science, and frames to itself a code of laws, unequal, false, 
and exceptionable, which bear no affinity to the rest of the 
world, and will not apply in the expression of ideas. 

I was once lecturing on this subject in one of the cities of 
New- York. Mrs. W., the distinguished teacher of one of 
the most popular Female Seminaries in our country, attend- 
ed. At the close of one lecture she remarked that the 



128 ON VERBS. 

greatest fault she had discovered in the new system, was 
the want of a class of words to express neutrality. Chil- 
dren, she said, conceived ideas of things in a quiescent state, 
and words should be taught them by which to communicate 
such ideas. I asked her for an example. She gave the 
rock in the side of the mountain. It had never moved. It 
could never act. There it had been from the foundation 
of the earth, and there it would remain unaltered and un- 
changed till time should be no longer. I remarked, that I 
would take another small stone and lay it on the great one 
which could never act, and now we say the great rock up- 
holds, sustains or supports the small one — all active transi- 
tive verbs with an object expressed. 

She replied, she would give it up, for it had satisfied her 
of a new principle which must be observed in the exposition 
of all language, which accords with facts as developed in 
physical and mental science. 

I continued, not only does that rock act in resisting the 
force of the small one which lays upon it, but, by the at- 
traction of gravitation it is able to maintain its position in 
the side of the mountain ; by cohesion it retains its distinct 
identity and solidity, and repels all foreign bodies. It is 
also subject to the laws which govern the earth in its, diur- 
nal and annual revolutions, and moves in common with oth- 
er matter at the astonishing rate of a thousand miles in an 
hour ! Who shall teach children, in these days of light 
and improvement, the grovelling doctrine of neutrality, this 
relic of the peripatetic philosophy ? Will parents send their 
children to school to learn falsehood ? And can teachers 
be satisfied to remain in ignorance, following with blind 
reverence the books they have studied, and refuse to ex- 
amine new principles, fearing they shall be compelled to 



LIE. AN ANECDOTE. 129 

acknowledge former errors and study new principles ? 
They should remember it is wiser and more honorable to 
confess a fault and correct it, than it is to remain permanent 
in error. 

Let us take another example of the verb " to lie.^^ A 
country pedagogue who has followed his authorities most 
devotedly, and taught his pupils that He is a " neuter verb, 
expressing neither action nor passion, but simply being, or 
a state of being," goes out, during the intermission, into a 
grove near by, to exercise himself. In attempting to roll a 
log up the hill, he inakes a mis-step, and falls (intransitive 
verb, nothing falls !) to the ground, and the log rolls (noth- 
ing) on to him, and lies across his legs. In this condition 
he is observed by his scholars to whom he cries (nothing) 
for help. " Do (nothing) come (intransitive) and help me." 
They obey him and remain neuter, or at least act intrans- 
itively, and produce no effects. He cries again for help 
and his cries are regarded. They present themselves be- 
fore him. " Do roll this log off; it will break my legs." 
" Oh no, master ; how can that be ? The log lies on you, 
does it not ?" " Yes, and it will press me to death." " No, 
no ; that can never be. The log can not act. Lies is a 
neuter verb, signifying neither action nor passion, but sim- 
ply being or a state of being. You have a state of being, 
and the log has a state of being. It can not harm you. 
You must have forgotten the practical application of the 
truths you have been teaching us." It would be difficult 
to explain neuter verbs in such a predicament. 

" Now 1 lay me down to sleep." 

" She died and they laid her beside her lover under the 
spreading branches of the willow." 



130 ON VERBS. 

" They laid it away so secure that they could never find 
it." 

They laid down to rest themselves after the fatigue of a 
whole day's journey. 

We have now considered the model verbs of the neuter 
kind, with the exception of the verb to be, which is left for 
a distinct consideration, being the most active of all verbs. 
It is unnecessary to spend much time on this point. The 
errors I have examined have all been discovered by teach- 
ers of language, long ago, but few have ventured to correct 
them. An alleviation of the difficulty has been sought in 
the adoption of the intransitive verb, which "expresses an ac- 
tion that is confined to the actor or agent." 

The remarks which have been given in the present lec- 
ture will serve as a hint to the course we shall adopt in 
treating of them, but the more particular examination of 
their character and uses, together with some general obser- 
vation on the agents and objects of verbs, will be deferred 
to our next lecture. 



LECTURE IX. 
ON VERBS. 



Neuter and intransitive. — Agents. — Objects. — No actions as such 
can be known distinct from the agent. — Imaginary actions. — 
Actions known by their effects. — Examples. — Signs sheuld guide 
to things signified. — Principles of action. — Power. — Animals. — 
Vegetables. — Minerals. — All things act. — Magnetic needle. — 
Causk. — Explained. — First Cause. — Means. — Illustrated. — Sir I. 
Newton's example. — These principles must be known. — Relative 
action. — ^Anecdote of Gallileo. 



We resume the consideration of verbs. We closed our 
last lecture with the examination of neuter verhs, as they 
have been called. It appears to us that evidence strong 
enough to convince the most skeptical was adduced to prove 
that sit, sleep, stand and lie, stand in the same relation to 
language as other verbs, that they do not, in any case, ex- 
press neutrality, but frequently admit an objective word af- 
ter them. These are regarded as the most neutral of all 
the verbs except to let which, by the way, expresses the 
highest degree of action, as we shall see when we come to 
inquire into its meaning. 

Grammarians have long ago discovered the falsity of the 
books in the use of a large portion of verbs which have 
been called neuter. To obviate the difficulty, some of them 
have adopted the ^isiinciiou o^ Intransitive verbs, which ex- 
press action, but terminate on no object ; others still use the 
term nevier, but teach their scholars that when the ohject is 



132 ON VERBS. 

expressed, it is active. Tliis distinction has only tended to 
perplex learners, while it afforded only a temporary expe- 
dient to teachers, by which to dodge the question at issue. 
So far as the action is concerned, which it is the business of 
the verb to express, what is the difference whether " I run, 
or rwn myself ?" " A man started in haste. He ran so fast 
that he ran himself to death." I strike Thomas, Thomas 
strikes David, Thomas strikes himself. Where is the dif- 
ference in the action ? What matters it whether the action 
passes over to another object, or is confined within itself? 

" But," says the objector, " you mistake. An intransitive 
verb is one where the ' effect is confined within the subject, 
and does not pass over to any object.' " 

Very well, I think I understand the objection. When 
Thomas strikes David the effects of the blow passes over to 
him. And when he strikes himself, it " is confined within 
the subject," and hence the latter is an intransitive verb. 

" No, no ; there is an object on which the action termi- 
nates, in that case, and so we must call it di transitive verb." 

Will you give me an example of an intransitive verb ? 

" I run, he walks, hivds Jly, it rains, the fire hums. No 
objects are expressed after these words, so the action is 
confined within themselves." 

I now get your meaning. When the object is expressed 
the verb is transitive, when it is not it is intransitive. This 
distinction is generally observed in teaching, however wide- 
ly it may differ from the intention of the makers of gram- 
mars. And hence children acquire the habit of limiting 
their inquiries to what they see placed before them by oth- 
ers, and do not think for themselves. When the verb has 
an objective word after it expressed, they are taught to at- 
tach action to it ; but tho the action may be even greater. 



ACTIONS CONNECTED WITH AGENTS. 133 

if the object is not expressed, they consider the action as 
widely different in its character, and adopt the false philos- 
ophy that a cause can exist without an effect resulting 
from it. 

We assume this ground, and we shall labor to maintain 
it, that every verb necessarily presupposes an agent or act- 
OTj an action, and an object acted upon, or affected by the 
action. 

No action, as such, can be known to exist separate from 
the thing that acts. We can conceive no idea of action, 
only by keeping our minds fixed on the acting substance, 
marking its changes, movements, and tendencies. " The 
book moves." In this case the eye rests on the book, and 
observes its positions and attitudes, alternating one way and 
the other. You can separate no action from the book, nor 
conceive any idea of it, as a separate entity. Let the 
book be taken away. Where now is the action ? What 
can you think or say of it ? There is the same space just 
now occupied by the book, but no action is perceivable. 

The boy rolls his marble upon the floor. All his ideas 
of the action performed by it are derived from an observa- 
tion of the marble. His eye follows it as it moves along 
the floor. He sees it in that acting condition. When he 
speaks of the action as a whole, he thinks where it started 
and where it stopped. It is of no importance, so far as the 
verb is concerned, whether the marble received an impulse 
from his hand, or whether the floor was sufficiently inclined 
to allow it to roll by its own inherent tendency. The ac- 
tion is, in this case, the obvious change of the marble. 

Our whole knowledge of action depends on an observ- 
ance of things in a state of motion, or change, or exerting a 
tendency to change, or to counteract an opposing substance. 



134 ON VERBS. 

This will be admitted so far as material things are con- 
cerned. The same principle holds good in reference to ev- 
ery thing of which we form ideas, or concerning which we 
use language. In our definition of nouns we spoke of im- 
material and imaginary things to which we gave names and 
which we consider as agencies capable of exerting an influ- 
ence in the production of effects, or in resisting actions. It 
is therefore unimportant whether the action be real or im- 
aginary. It is still inseparably connected with the thing 
that acts ; and we employ it thus in the construction of lan- 
guage to express our thoughts. Thus, lions roar ; birds 
sing ; minds reflect ; fairies dance ; knowledge increases ; 
fancies err ; imagination wanders. 

This fact should be borne in mind in all our attempts to 
understand or explain language. The mind should remain 
fixed to the acting substance, to observe its changes and 
relations at different periods, and in diflTerent circumstances. 
There is no other process by which any knowledge can be 
gained of actions. The mind contemplates the acting thing 
in a condition of change and determines the precise action 
by the altered condition of the thing, and thus learns to 
judge of actions by their effects. The only method by 
which we can know whether a vegetable grows or not is by 
comparing its form to-day with what it was some days ago. 
We can not decide on the improvement of our children only 
by observing the same rule. 

" By their fruits ye shall know them," will apply in 
physics as well as in morals ; for we judge of causes only 
by their effects. First principles can never be known. 
We observe things as they are, and remember how they 
have been; and from hence deduce our conclusions in ref- 
erence to the eame of things we do not fully understand, or 



ACTIONS KNOWxN' BY THEIR EFFECTS. 135 

those consequences which will follow a condition of things 
as now existing. It is the business of philosophy to mark 
these effects, and trace them back to the causes which pro- 
duced them, by observing all the intermediate changes, 
forms, attitudes, and conditions, in which such things have, 
at different times, been placed. 

We say, "trees grow.^^ But suppose no change had 
ever been observed in trees, that they had always been as 
they now are ; in stature as lofty, in foliage as green and 
beautiful, in location unaltered. Who would then say, 
** trees grow ?" 

In this single expression a whole train of facts are taken 
into the account, tho not particularly marked. As a single 
expression we imply that trees increase their stature. But 
this we all know could never be effected without the influ- 
ence of other causes. The soil where it stands must con- 
tai.i properties suited to the growth of the tree. A due 
portion of moisture and heat are also requisite. These facts 
all exist, and are indispensable to make good the expression 
that the "tree grows." We might also trace the capabili- 
ties of the tree itself, its roots, bark, veins or pores, fibres or 
grains, its succulent and absorbent powers. But, as in the 
case of the "man that killed the deer," noticed in a former 
lecture, the mind here conceives a single idea of a complete 
whole, which is signified by the single expression, "trees 
grow." 

Let the following example serve in further illustration of 
this point. Take two bricks, the one heated to a high tem- 
perature, the other cold. Put them together, and in a short 
time you will find them of equal temperature. One has 
grown warm, the other cool. One has imparted heat and 
received cold, the other has received heat and imparted cold. 



136 ON VERBS. 

Yet all this would remain forever unknown,, but for the ef- 
fects which must appear obvious to all. From these effects 
the causes are to be learned. 

It must, I think, appear plain to all who are willing to 
see, that action, as such, can never exist distinct from the 
thing that acts ; that all our notions of action are derived 
from an observance of things in an acting condition ; and 
hence that no words can be framed to express our ideas of 
action on any other principle. 

I hope you will bear these principles in mind. They are 
vastly important in the construction of language, as will 
appear when we come to speak of the agents and objects of 
action. We still adhere to the fact, that no rules of lan- 
guage can be successfully employed, which deviate from 
the permanent laws which operate in the regulation of mat- 
ter and mind ; a fact which can not be too deeply impressed 
on your minds. 

In the consideration of actions as expressed by verbs, 
we must observe that power, cause, means, agency, and 
effects. Sire indispensable to their existence. Such princi- 
ples exist in fact, and must be observed in obtaining a com- 
plete knowledge of language ; for words, we have already 
seen, are the expression of ideas, and ideas are the impres- 
sion of things. 

In our attempts at improvement, we should strip away 
the covering, and come at the reality. Words should be 
measurably forgotten, while we search diligently for the 
things expressed by them. Signs should always conduct 
to the things signified. The weary traveller, hungry and 
faint, would hardly satisfy himself with an examination of 
the sign before the inn, marking its form, the picture upon 



PRINCIPLES OF ACTION. 137 

it, the nice shades of coloring in the painting. He would 
go in, and search for the thing signified. 

It has been the fault in teaching language, that learners 
have been limited to the mere forms of words, while the 
important duty of teaching them to look at the thing signi- 
fied, has been entirely disregarded. Hence they have only 
obtained book knowledge. They know what the grammars 
say ; but how to apply what they say, or what is in reality 
meant by it, they have yet to learn. This explains the 
reason why almost every man who has studied grammar 
will tell you that "he used to understand it, but it has all 
gone from him, for he has not looked into a hook these many 
years." Has he lost a knowledge of language? Oh, no, 
he learned that before he saw a grammar, and will preserve 
it to the day of his death. What good did his two or three 
years study of grammar do him ? None at all ; he has 
forgotten all that he ever knew of it, and that is not much, 
for he only learned what some author said, and a few arbi- 
trary rules and technical expressions which he could never 
understand nor apply in practice, except in special cases. 
But I wander. I throw in this remark to show you the 
necessity of bringing your minds to a close observance of 
things as they do in truth exist ; and from them you can 
draw the principles of speech, and be able to use language 
correctly. For we still insist on our former opinion, that 
all language depends on the permanent laws of nature, as 
exerted in the regulation of matter and mind. 

To return. I have said that all action denotes power, 
cause, means, agency, and effects. 

Power depends on physical energy, or rnental skill. I 
have hinted at this fact before. Things act according to 



138 ON VERBS. 

the power or energy they possess. Animals walk, birds 
fly, fishes swim, minerals sink, poisons kill. Or, according 
to the adopted theories of naturalists : 

Minerals grow. 

Vegetables grow and live, 

KmvCidXs grow, ditidi live, BnA feel. 

Every thing acts according to the ability it possesses. 
Man, possessed of reason, devises means and produces ends. 
Beasts change locations, devour vegetables, and sometimes 
other beasts. The lowest grade of animals never change 
location, but yet eat and live. Vegetables live and grow, 
but do not change location. They have the power to re- 
produce their species, and some of them to kill off surround- 
ing objects. " The carraguata of the West Indies, clings 
round," says Goldsmith, " whatever tree it happens to ap- 
proach ; there it quickly gains the ascendant, and, loading 
the tree with a verdure not its own, keeps away that nour- 
ishment designed to feed the trunk, and at last entirely de- 
stroys its supporter." In our country, many gardens and 
fields present convincing proof of the ability of weeds to 
kill out the vegetables designed to grow therein. You all 
have heard of the Upas, which has a power sufficient to 
destroy the lives of animals and vegetables for a large dis- 
tance around. Its very exhalations are death to whatever 
approaches it. It serves in metaphor to illustrate the nox- 
ious effects of all vice, of slander and deceit, the effects of 
which are to the moral constitution, what the tree itself is 
to natural objects, blight and mildew upon whatever comes 
within its reach. 

Minerals are possessed of power no less astonishing, which 
may be observed whenever an opportunity is offered to call 
it forth. Active poisons, able to slay the most powerful 



PRINCIPLES OF ACTION. POWER. 139 

men and beasts, lie hid within their bosoms. They have 
strong attractive and repelling powers. From the iron is 
made the strong cable which holds the vessel fast in her 
moorings, enabling it to outride the collected force of the 
winds and waves which threaten its destruction. From it 
also are manufactured the manacles which bind the strong 
man, or fasten the lion in his cage. Gold possesses a pow- 
er which charms nearly all men to sacrifice their ease, and 
too many their moral principles, to pay their blind devotions 
at its shrine. 

Who will contend that the power of action is confined to 
the animal creation alone, and that inanimate matter can 
not act ? That there is a superior power possessed by man, 
endowed with an immaterial spirit in a corporeal body, none 
will deny. By the agency of the mind he can accomplish 
wonders, which mere physical power without the aid of 
such mental skill, could never perform. But with all his 
boasted superiority, he is often made the slave of inanimate 
things. His lofty powers of body and soul bend beneath 
the weight of accumulated sorrows, produced by the secret 
operations of contagious disease, which slays his wife, chil- 
dren, and friends, who fall like the ripened harvest before 
the gatherers scythe. Nay, he often submits to the con- 
trolling power of the vine, alcohol, or tobacco, which gain 
a secret influence over his nobler powers, and fix on him 
the stamp of disgrace, and throw around him fetters from 
which he finds it no easy matter to extricate himself. By 
the illusions of error and vice he is often betrayed, and long 
endures darkness and suffering, till he regains his native 
energies, and finds deliverance in the enjoyment of truth 
and virtue. 



140 ON VERBS. 

What is that secret power which lies concealed beyond 
the reach of human ken, and is transported from land to 
land unknown, till exposed in conditions suited to its opera- 
tion, will show its active and resistless force in the destruc- 
tion of life, and the devastation of whole cities or nations ? 
You may call it plague, or cholera, or small pox, miasma, 
contagion, particles of matter floating in the air surcharged 
with disease, or any thing else. It matters not what you 
call it. It is sufficient to our present purpose to know that 
it has the ability to put forth a prodigious power in the pro- 
duction of consequences, which the highest skill of man is 
yet unable to prevent. 

I might pursue this point to an indefinite length, and trace 
the secret powers possessed by all created things, as exhib- 
ited in the influence they exert in various ways, both as 
regards themselves and surrounding objects. But you will 
at once perceive my object, and the truth of the positions 
I assume. A common power pervades all creation, operat- 
ing by pure and perfect laws, regulated by the Great First 
Cause, the Moving Principle, which guides, governs, and 
controls the whole.* 



* We do not assent to the notions of ancient philosophers and 
poets, who believed the doctrine that the world is animated by a 
soul, like the human body, which is the spirit of Deity himself; but 
that by the operation of wise and perfect laws, he exerts a supervi- 
sion in the creation and preservation of all things animate and in- 
animate. Virgil stated the opinions of his times, in his ^neid, 
B. VI. 1. 724. 

" Principio cosJum, ac terras, camposque liquentes, 
Lucentemque globum, Lunae, Titaniaque astra 
Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus 
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet." 

*' Know, first, that heaven, and earth's compacted fi*ame. 
And flowing waters, and the starry flame, 



POWER. :\IAGNETIC NEEDLE. 141 

Degrading indeed must be those sentiments which limit 
all action to the animal frame as an organized body, moved 
by a living principle. Ours is a sublimer duly ; to trace 
the operations of the Divine Wisdom which acts thro out all 
creation, in the minutest particle of dust which keeps its 
position secure, till moved by some superior power ; or in 
the needle which points with unerring skill to its fixed point, 
and guides the vessel, freighted with a hundred lives, safe 
thro the midnight storm, to its destined haven ; tho rocked 
by the waves and driven by the winds, it remains uninflu- 
enced, and tremblingly ahve to the important duties en- 
trusted to its charge, continues its faithful service, and is 
watched with the most implicit confidence by all on board, 
as the only guide to safety. The same Wisdom is dis- 
played thro out all creation ; in the beauty, order, and har- 
mony of the universe ; in the planets which float in the 
azure vault of Heaven ; in the glow worm that glitters in 
the dust ; in the fish wliich cuts the liquid element ; in the 



And both the radiant lights, one common soul 
Inspires and feeds — and animates the whole. 
This active mind, infused thro all the space, 
Unites and niingles with the mighty mass." 

Dryden, b. vi. 1. 980. 

This sentiment, he probably borrowed from Pythagoras and Plato, 
who argue the same sentiment, and divide this spirit into '- intellec- 
ius, intelligentia, etnatura'' — intellectual, intelligent, and natural. 
Whence, " Ex hoc Deo, qui est mundianima : quasi decerptce par. 
ticulcB sunt vitcB hominum et pecudum." Or, " Omnia animalia ex 
quatuor dementis et divino spiritu constare manifestum est. Tra- 
hunt enim a terra caruem, ab aqua humorem, ab asre anhelitum, ab 
igne fervorem, a divino spiritu ingeniu?n." — Timeus, chap. 24. and 
VirgiVs GeoT. b. 4, I. 220, Dryden's trans. I. 322. 

Pope alludes to the same opinion in these lines : 

" All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
Whose body nature is, and God the soul." 



142 ON VERBS. 

pearl which sparkles in the bottom of the ocean ; in every 
thing that lives, moves, or has a being ; but more distinctly 
in man, created in the moral image of his Pvlaker, possessed 
of a heart to feel, and a mind to understand — the third iil 
the rank of intelligent beings, 

I cannot refuse to favor you Vv^ith a quotation from that 
inimitable poem, Pope's Essay on Man. It is rife with sen- 
timent of the purest and most exalted character. It is di- 
rect to our purpose. You may have heard it a thousand 
times ; but I am confident you will be pleased to hear it 
again. 

Ask for what end the heavenly bodies shine, 
Earth for whose use ? Pride answers, " 'Tis for mine : 
" For me kind nature wakes her genial pow'r, 
• ' Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flow'r ; 
" Annual for me, the grape, the rose renew 
*' The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew ; " 
"For me, the mine a thousand treasures brings; 
" For me health gushes from a thousand springs ; 
<' Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise ; 
" My footstool earth, my canopy the skies." 

But errs not nature from this gracious end. 
From burning suns when livid deaths descend. 
When earthquakes swallow, or when tempests sweep 
Towns to one grave, whole nations to the deep ? 
" iVb," ('tis replied,) " the first Almighty Cause 
Acts not hy partial, hut by general laws ; 
TK exceptions few ; some change since all began : 
And what created perfect ?" Why then man ? 
If the great end be human happiness. 
Then nature deviates — and can man do less? 
As much that end a constant course requires 
Of show'rs and sunshine, as of man's desires ; 
As much eternal springs and cloudless skies, 



AN EXTRACT. 143 

As man forever temp'rate, calm, and wise. 

If plagues or earthquakes break not heaven's design, 

Why then a Borgia, or a Cataline ? 

Who knows but He whose hand the lightning forms, 

Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms ; 

Pours fierce ambition in a Caesar's mind ; 

Or turns young Ammon loose to scourge mankind ? 

From pride, from pride our very reas'ning springs ; 

Account for moral as for nat'ral things : 

Why charge we heaven in those, in these acquit ? 

In both, to reason right, is to submit. 

Better for us, perhaps, it might appear. 
Were there all harmony, all virtue here ; 
That never air or ocean felt the wind ; 
That never passion discomposed the mind. 
But Aii subsists by elemental strife ; 
And passions are the elements of life. 
The general order, since the whole began, 
Is kept in nature, and is kept in man. 



Look round our world, behold the chain of love, 
Combining all below and all above ; 
See plastic nature working to this end, 
The single atoms each to other tend ; 
Attract, attracted to, the next in place 
Formed and impelled its neighbor to embrace. 
See matter next, with various life endued. 
Press to one center still the gen'ral good. 
See dying vegetables life sustain, 
See life dissolving, vegetate again ; 
All forms that perish, other forms supply, 
(By turns we catch the vital breath, and die) 
Like bubbles on the sea of matter borne. 
They rise, they break, and to that sea return, 
Nothing is foreign — parts relate to whole ; 
One all-extending, all-preserving soul 



144 ^ ON VERBS. 

Connects each being greatest with the least ; . 
Made beast in aid of man, and man of beast ; 
All served, all serving ; nothing stands alone ; 
The chain holds on, and where it ends, unknown. 



But power alone is not sufficient to produce action. 
There must be a cause to call it forth, to set in operation 
and exhibit its latent energies. It will remain hid in its 
secret chambers till efficient causes have set in operation 
the means by which its existence is to be discovered in the 
production of change, effects, or results. There is, it is 
said, in every created thing a power sufficient to produce 
its own destruction, as well as to preserve its being. In 
the human body, for instance, there is a constant tendency 
to decay, to waste ; which a counteracting power resists, 
and, with proper assistance, keeps alive. 

The same may be said of vegetables which are constant- 
ly throwing off, or exhaling the waste, offensive, or useless 
matter, and yet a restoring power, assisted by heat, moist- 
ure, and the nourishment of the earth, resists the tendency 
to decay and preserves it alive and growing. The air, the 
earth, nay, the ocean itself, philosophers assure us, contain 
powers sufficient to self-destruction. But I will not enlarge 
here. Let the necessary cause be exerted which will give 
vent to this hidden power and actions the most astonishing 
and destructive would be the effect. These are often wit- 
nessed in the tremendous earthquakes which devastate 
whole cities, states, and empires ; in the tornados which 
pass, like the genius of evil, over the land, levelling what- 
ever is found in its course ; or in the waterspouts and mael- 
stroms which prove the grave of all that comes within their 
grasp. 



CAUSE OF ACTION. 145 

In the attempted destruction of the royal family and par- 
liament of England, by what is usually called the " gunpow- 
der plot," the arrangements were all made ; two hogsheads 
and thirty-six barrels of powder, sufficient to blow up the 
house of lords and the surrounding buildings, were secreted 
in a vault beneath it, strown over with faggots. Guy 
Fawkes, a Spanish officer, employed for the purpose, lay at 
the door, on the 5th of November, 1605, with the matches, 
or means, in his pocket, which should set in operation the 
prodigious dormant power, which would hurl to destruction 
James I., the royal family, and the protestant parliament, 
give the ascendancy to the Catholics, and change the whole 
political condition of the nation. The project was discovered, 
the means were removed, the cause taken away, and the 
threatened effects were prevented. 

The CAUSE of action is the immediate subject which pre- 
cedes or tends to produce the action, without which it would 
not take place. It may result from volition, inherent ten- 
dency, or communicated impulse ; and is known to exist 
from the effects produced by it, in the altered or new con- 
dition of the thing on which it operates ; which change 
would not have been effected without it. 

Causes are to be sought for by tracing back thro the ef- 
fects which are produced by them. The factory is put in 
operation, and the cloth is manufactured. The careless ob- 
server would enter the building and see the spindles, looms, 
and wheels operated by the hands, and go away satisfied 
that he has seen enough, seen all. But the more careful 
will look farther. He will trace each band and wheel, each 
cog and shaft, down by the balance power, to the water 
race and floom ; or thro the complicated machinery of the 
sleam engine to the piston, condenser, water, wood, and fire ; 

M 



146 ON VERBS. 

marking a new, more secret, and yet more efficient cause at 
each advancing step. But all this curiously wrought ma- 
chinery is not the product of chance, operated without care. 
A superior cause must be sought in human skill, in the deep 
and active ingenuity of man. Every contrivance presup- 
poses a contriver. Hence there must have been a power 
and means sufficient to combine and regulate the power of 
the water, or generate and direct the steam. That power 
is vested in man ; and hence, man stands as the cause, in 
relation to the whole process operated by wheels, bands, 
spindles, and looms. Yet we may say, with propriety, that 
the water, or the steam ; the water-wheel, or the piston ; 
the shafts, bands, cogs, pullies, spindles, springs, treddles, har- 
nesses, reeds, shuttles, an almost endless concatenation of in- 
struments, are alike the causes, which tend to produce the 
final result ; for let one of these intermediate causes be re- 
moved, and the whole power will be diverted, and all will 
go wrong — the effijct will not be produced. 

There must be a first cause to set in operation all infe- 
rior ones in the production of action ; and to that j^r^^ cause 
all action, nay, the existence of all other causes, may be 
traced, directly, or more distant. The intervening causes, in 
the consecutive order of things, may be as diversified as the 
links in the chain of variant beings. Yet all these causes 
are moved by the all-sufficient and ever present agency of 
the Almighty Father, the Uncaused Cause of all things 
and beings ; who spoke into existence the universe with all 
its various and complicated parts and orders ; who set the 
sun, moon, and stars in the firmament, gave the earth a 
place, and fixed the sea a bed ; throwing around them bar- 
riers over which they can never pass. From the height of 
bis eternal throne, his eye pervades all his works ; from the 



MEANS. ILLUSTRATIONS. I4t 

tall archangel, that " adores and burns," down to the very 
hairs of our heads, which are all numbered, his wise, benev- 
olent, and powerful supervision may be traced in legible 
lines, which may be seen and read of all men. And from 
effects, the most diminutive in character, may be traced back, 
from cause to cause, upward in the ascending scale of be- 
ing, to the same unrivalled Source of all power, splendor, 
and perfection, the presence of Him, who spake, and it was 
done ; who commanded, and it stood stUl ; or, as the poet 
has it : 

'• Look thro nature up to nature's God." 

The means of action are those aids which are displayed 
as the medium thro which existing causes are to exhibit 
their hidden powers in producing changes or effects. The 
mutches in the pocket of Guy Fawks were the direct means 
by which he intended to set in operation a train of causes 
which should terminate in the destruction of the house of 
lords and all its inmates. Those matches, set on fire, would 
convey a spark to the faggots, and thence to the powder, 
and means after means, and cause after cause, in the rapid 
succession of events, would ensue, tending to a final, inevi- 
table, and melancholy result. 

A ball shot from a cannon, receives its first impulse from 
the powder ; but it is borne thro the air by the aid of a prin- 
ciple inherent in itself, which power is finally overcome by 
the density of the atmosphere which impedes its progress, 
and the law of gravitation finally attracts it to the earth. 
These contending principles may be known by observing the 
curved line in which the ball moves from the cannon's mouth 
to the spot where it rests. But if there is no power in the 



148 ON VEEBS. 

ball, why does not the ball of cork discharged from the same 
gun with the same momentum, travel to the same distance, 
nt the same rate ? The action commences in both cases 
with the same projectile force, the same exterior means are 
employed, but the results are widely different. The cause 
of this difference must be sought for in the comparative 
power of each substance to continue its own movements. 

Every boy who has played at ball has observed these 
principles. He throws his ball, which, if not counteracted, 
will continue in a straight line, ad infinitum — without end. 
But the air impedes its progress, and gravitation brings it to 
the ground. When he throws it against a hard substance, its 
velocity is not only overcome, but it is sent back with great 
force. But if he takes a ball of wax, of snow, or any strong 
adhesive substance, it will not bound. How shall we ac- 
count to him for this difference ? He did the same with botli 
balls. The impetus given the one was as great as the other, 
and the resistance of the intervening substance was as great 
in one case as the other ; and yet, one bound's and rebounds, 
while the other sticks fast as a friend, to the first object it 
meets. The cause of this difference is to be sought for in 
the different capabilities of the respective balls. One pos- 
sesses a strong elastic and repelling power ; in the other, 
the attraction of cohesion is predominant. 

Take another example. Let two substances of equal 
size and form, the one made of lead, the other of cork, be 
put upon the surface of a cistern of water. The external 
circumstances are the same, but the effects are widely dif- 
ferent — one sinks, the other floats. We must look for the 
cause of this difference, not in the opposite qualities of sur- 
rounding matter, but in the things themselves. If you add 
!o the cork another quality possessed by the lead, and g\\'%^ 



MEANS. — EXAMPLES. 149 

it the same form, size, and weight, it will as readily sink to 
the bottom. But this last property is possessed in different 
degrees by the two bodies, and hence, while the one floats 
upon the water, the other displaces its particles and sinks to 
the bottom. You may take another substance ; say the 
mountain ebony, which is heavier than water, but lighter 
than lead, and immerse it in the water ; it will not sink with 
the rapidity of lead, because its inherent power is not so 
strong. 

Take still another case. Let two balls, suspended on 
strings, be equally, or, to use the technical term, positively 
electrified. Bring them within a certain distance, and they 
will repel each other. Let the electric fluid be extracted 
from one, and the other will attract it. Before, they were 
as enemies ; now they embrace as friends. The magnet 
furnishes the most striking proof in favor of the theory we 
are laboring to establish. Let one of sufficient power be 
let down within the proper distance, 4t will overcome the 
power of gravitation, and attract the heavy steel to itself. 
What is the cause of this wonderful fact ? Whocan account 
for it ? Who can trace out the hidden cause ; the " primum 
mobile^^ of the Ptolmaic philosophy — the secret spring of mo- 
tion ? Bi^^who will dare deny that such effects do exist, 
and that they are produced by an efficient cause ? Or who 
will descend into the still more dark and perplexing mazes 
of neuter verb grammars, and deny that matter has such a 
power to act ? 

These instances will suffice to show you what we mean 
when we say, every thing acts according to the aUlity God 
has given it to act. I might go into a more minute exam- 
ination of the properties of matter, aflinity, hardness, weight, 
size, color, form, mobility, &c., which even old grammars 



150 ON VERBS. 

will allow it to possess ; but I shall leave that work for you 
to perform at your leisure. 

Whoever has any doubts remaining in reference to the 
abilities of all things to produce, continue, or prevent motion, 
will do well to consult the prince of philosophers, Sir Isaac 
Newton, who, after Gallileo, has treated largely upon the 
laws of motion. He asserts as a fact, full in illustration of 
the principles I am laboring to establish, that in ascending 
a hill, the trace rope pulls the horse back as much as he 
draws that forward, only the horse overcomes the resist- 
ance of the load, and moves it up the hill. On the old sys- 
tems, no power would be requisite to move the load, for it 
could oppose no resistance to the horse ; and the small child 
could move it witii as much ease as the strong team. 

Who has not an acquaintance sufficiently extensive to 
know these things? I can not believe there is a person pre- 
sent, who does not fully comprehend my meaning, and dis- 
cover the correctness of the ground I have assumed. And 
it should be borne in mind, that no collection or arrange- 
ment of words can be composed into a sentence, which do 
not obtain their meaning from a connection of things as they 
exist and operate in the material and intellectual world, and 
that it is not in the power of man to frame a sentence, to 
think or speak, but in conformity with these general and 
exceptionless laws* 

This important consideration meets us at every advancing 
step, as if to admonish us to abandon the vain project of 
seeking a knowledge of language without an acquaintance 
with the great principles on which it depends. To look for 
the leading rules of speech in set forms of expression, or in 
the capricious customs of any nation, however learned, is 
as futile as to attempt to gain a knowledge of the world by 



RELATIVE ACTION. 151 

shutting ourselves up in a room, and looking at paintings 
and drawings which may be furnished by those who know 
as little of it as we do. How fallacious would be the at- 
tempt, how much worse than time thrown away, for the 
parent to shut up his child in a lonely room, and undertake 
to impress upon its mind a knowledge of men, beasts, birds, 
fish, insects, rivers, mountains, fields, flowers, houses, cities, 
6cc., with no other aid than a few miserable pictures, unlike 
the reality, and in many respects contradictory to each 
other. And yet that would be adopting a course very simi- 
lar to the one long employed as the only means of acquiring 
a knowledge of language ; limited to a set of arbitrary, false, 
and contradictory rules, which the brightest geniuses could 
never understand, nor the most erudite employ in the ex- 
pression of ideas. The grammars, it was thought, must be 
studied to acquire the use of language, and yet they were 
forgotten before such knowledge was put in practice. 

A simple remark on the principles of relative action, and 
we will pass to the consideration of agents and objects, or 
the more immediate causes and effects of action. 

We go forth at the evening hour and look upon the sun 
sinking beneath the horizon ; we mark the varying hues of 
light as they appear, and change, and fade away. We see 
the shades of night approaching, with a gradual pace, till 
the beautiful landscape on which we had been gazing, the 
hills and the meadows ; the farm house and the cultivated 
fields, the grove, the orchard, and the garden ; the tranquil 
lake and the babbling brook ; the dairy returning home, and 
the lambkins gambolling beside their dams; all recede from 
our view, and appear to us no longer. All this is relative 
action. But so far as language and ideas are concerned, it 



153 ON VERBS. 

matters not whether the sun actually sinks behind the "hills, 
or the hills interpose between it and us ; whether the land- 
scape recedes from our view, or the shades of night intercept 
so as to obscure our vision. The habit of thought is the 
same, and the form of expression must agree with it. We 
say the sun rises and sets, in reference to the obvious fact, 
without stopping to inquire whether it really moves or not. 
Nor is such an inquiry at all necessary, as to matter of fact, 
for all we mean by such expressions, is, that by some pro- 
cess, immaterial to the case in hand, the sun stands in a new 
relation to the earth, its altitude is elevated or depressed, 
and hence the action is strictly relative. For we should 
rember that rising and setting, up and down, above and he- 
low, in reference to the earth, are only relative terms. 

We speak and read of the changes of the moon, and we 
correctly understand each other. But in truth the moon 
changes no more at one time than at another. The action 
is purely relative. One day we observe it before the 
sun, and the next behind it, as we understand these terms. 
The precise time of the change, when it will appear to us 
in a different relation to the sun, is computed by astrono- 
mers, and set down in our almanacs ; but it changes no 
more at that time than at any other, for like every thing 
else, it is always changing. 

In a case we mentioned in a former lecture, " John looks 
like or resembles his brother, we have an example of relative 
action. So in the case of two men travelling the same way, 
starting together, but advancing at different rates ; one, we 
say, falls behind the other. In this manner of expression, 
we follow exactly the principles on which we started, and 
suit our language to our ideas and habits of thinking. By 
the law of optics things are reflected upon the retina of the 



ANECDOTE OF GALLILEO- 153 

eye inversely, that is, upside down ; but they are always 
seen in a proper relation to each other, and if there is any 
thing wrong in the case, it is overcome by early habit ; and 
so our language accords with things as they are manifested 
to our understandings. 

These examples will serve to illustrate what we mean by 
relative action, when applied to natural philosophy or the 
construction of language. 

I had intended in this lecture to have treated of the agents 
and objects of verbs, to prove, in accordance with the first 
and closest principles of philosophy, that ever)" " cause must 
have an effect^^^ or, in other words, that every action must 
terminate on some object, either expressed or necessarily 
understood ; but I am admonished that I have occupieci 
more than my usual quota of time in this lecture already, 
and hence I shall leave this work for our next. 

I will conclude by the relation of an anecdote or two from 
the life of that wonderful man, Gallileo Gallilei, who was 
many years professor of mathematics at Padua. Possessed 
of a strong, reflecting mind, he had early given his attention 
to the observation of things, their motions, tendencies, and 
power of resistance, from which he ascended, step by step, 
to the sublime science of astronomy. Being of an honest 
and frank, as well as benevolent disposition, he shunned not 
to state and defend theories at war with the then received 
opinions. All learning was, at that time, in the hands or 
under the supervision of the ecclesiastics, who were content 
to follow blindly the aristotelian philosophy, which, in many 
respects, was not unlike that still embraced in our neuter 
verb systems of grammar. There was a sworn hostility 
against all improvement, or innovation as it was called, in 
science as well as in theology. The copernican system, 



154 ON VERBS. 

to which GalHleo was inclined, if it had not been formally 
condemned, had been virtually denounced as false, and its 
advocates heretical. Flence Gallileo never dared openly 
to defend it, but, piece by piece, under different names, he 
brought it forth, which, carried out, would establish the he- 
retical system. Dwelling as a light in the midst of sur- 
rounding darkness, he cautiously discovered the precious 
truths revealed to his mind, lest the flood of light should 
distract and destroy the mental vision, break up the ele- 
ments of society, let loose the resistless powers of ignorance, 
prejudice and bigotry, and envelope himself and friends in 
a common ruin. At length having prepared in a very 
guarded manner his famous "Dialogues on the Ptolmaic and 
Copernican Systems," he obtained permission, and ventured 
to publish it to the world, altho an edict had been promul- 
gated enjoining silence on the subject, and he had been 
personally instructed " not to believe or teach the motion of 
the earth in any manner. ^^ 

By the false representation of his enemies, suspicions were 
aroused and busily circulated prejudicial to Gallileo. Pope 
Urban himself, his former friend, became exasperated to- 
wards him, and a sentence against him and his books was 
fulminated by the Cardinals, prohibiting the " sale and vend- 
ing of the latter, and condemning him to the formal prison 
of the Holy Office for a period determined at their pleasure." 
The sentence of the Inquisition was in part couched in these 
words — " We pronounce, judge, and declare, that you, the 
said Gallileo, by reason of these things, which have been de- 
tailed in the course of this investigation, and which, as above, 
you have confessed, have rendered yourself vehemently sus^ 
pected by this Holy Office, of heresy ; that is to say, that 
you believe and hold the false doctrine, and contrary to the 



ANECDOTE. 156 

Holy and Divine Scriptures, namely, that the sun is the cen- 
ter of the world, and that it does not move from east to west, 
and that the earth does move, and is not the center of the 
world ; also, that an opinion can he held and supported as 
probable, after it has been declared, and finally decreed con. 
trary to the Holy Scriptures" — by the Holy See ! ! " From 
which," they continue, " it is our pleasure that you be ab- 
solved, provided that, first, with a sincere heart, and un- 
feigned faith, in our presence, you abjure, curse, and detest 
the said errors and heresies, and every other error and 
heresy contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic Church of 
Rome, in the form now shown to you." 

After suffering under this anathema some time, Gallileo, 
by the advice of his friends, consented to make a public 
abjuration of his former heresies on the laws of motion. 
Kneeling before the " Most Eminent and Most Reverend 
Lords Cardinals, General Inquisitors of the universal Christ- 
ian republic, against heretical depravity, having before his 
eyes the Holy Gospels," he swears that he always " be- 
lieved, and now believes, and with the help of God, icill in 
future believe, every article which the Holy Catholic Church 
of Rome holds, teaches, and preaches" — that he does alto- 
gether " abandon the false opinion which maintains that the 
* sun is the center of the world, and that the earth is not the 
center and movable,^ that with a sincere heart and unfeigned 
faith, he abjures, curses, and detests the said errors and 
heresies, and every other error and sect contrary to the 
said Holy Church, and that he will never more in future, 
say or assert any thing verbally, or in writing, which may 
give rise to similar suspicion." As he arose from his knees, 
it is said, he whispered to a friend standing near him, " E 
pur si muove^^ — it does move, tho. 



166 ON VERBS. 

In our limes we are not fated to live under the terrors of 
the Inquisition ; but prejudice, if not as strong in power to 
execute, has the abihty to blind as truly as in other ages, 
and keep us from the knowledge and adoption of practical 
improvements. And it is the same philosophy now, which 
asks if inanimate matter can act, which demanded of Galli- 
leo if this ponderous globe could fly a thousand miles in a 
minute, and no body feel the motion ; and with Deacon 
Homespun, in the dialogue, " why, if this world turned up- 
side down, the water did not spill from the mill ponds, and 
all the people fall headlong to the bottomless pit ?" 

If there are any such peripatetics in these days of light 
and science, who still cling to the false and degrading sys- 
tems of neutrahty, because they are honorable for age, or 
sustained by learned and good men, and who will oppose 
all improvement, reject without examination, or, what is 
still worse, refuse to adopt, after being convinced of the 
truth of it, any system, because it is novel, an innovation 
upon established forms, I can only say of them, in the lan- 
guage of Micanzio, the Venetian friend of Gallileo — " The 
efforts of such enemies to get these principles prohibited, 
will occasion no loss either to your reputation, or to the in- 
telligent part of the world. As to posterity, this is just one 
of the surest ways to hand them down to them. But what 
a wretched set this must be, to whom every good thing, and 
all that is found in nature, necessarily appears hostile and 
odious." 



LECTURE X. 

ON VERBS. 

A philosophical axiom — Manner of expressing action. — Things 
taken for granted. — Simple facts must be known. — Must never 
deviate from the truth. — Every cause will have an effect. — An 
example of an intransitive verb. — Objects expressed or implied. — 
All language eliptical. — Intransitive verbs examined. — I run. — 
1 walk. — To step. — Birds fly. — It rains. — The fire burns. — The 
sun shines. — To smile. — Eat and drink. — Miscellaneous exam- 
ples. — Evils of false teaching. — A change is demanded. — These 
principles apply universally. — Their importance. 

We have made some general remarks on the power, 
cause, and means, necessary in the production of action. 
We now approach nearer to the application of these prin- 
ciples as observed in the immediate agency and effects which 
precede and follow action, and as connected with the verb. 

It is an axiom in philosophy which cannot be contro- 
verted, that every effect is the product of a prior cmise, and 
that every cause will necessarily produce a corresponding 
effect. This fact has always existed and will forever re- 
main unchanged. It applies universally in physical, men- 
tal, and moral science ; to God or man ; to angels or to 
atoms ; in time or thro eternity. No language can be con- 
«tructed which does not accord with it, for no ideas can be 
gained but by an observance of its manifestations in the 
material or spiritual universe. The manner of expressing 
this cause and effect may differ in different nations or by 
people of the same nation, but the fact remains unaltered, 



158 ON VERBS. 

and so far as understood the idea is the same. In the case 
of the horse mentioned in a former lecture,* the idea was 
the same, but the manner of expressing it different. Let 
that horse walk, lay down, roll over, rise up, shake himself, 
rear, or stand still, all present will observe the same attitude 
of the horse, and will form the same ideas of his positions. 
Some will doubtless inquire more minutely into the cause 
and means by which these various actions are produced, 
what muscles are employed, what supports are rendered by 
the bones \ and the whole regulated by the will of the 
horse, and their conclusions may be quite opposite. But 
this has nothing to do with the obvious fact expressed by 
the words above ; or, more properly, it is not necessary to 
enter into a minute detail of these minor considerations, 
these secret springs of motion, in order to relate the actions 
of the horse. For were we to do this we should be re- 
quired to go back, step by step, and find the causes still 
more numerous, latent, and perplexing. The pursuit of 
causes would lead us beyond the mere organization of the 
horse, his muscular energy, and voluntary action ; for 
gravitation has no small service to perform in the accom- 
plishment of these results ; as well as other principles. Let 
gravitation be removed, and how could the horse Zaj/down 1 
He could roll over as well in the air as upon the ground. 
But the particular notice of these things is unnecessary in 
the construction of language to express the actions of the 
horse ; for he stands as the obvious agent of the whole, and 
the effects are seen to follow — the Jiorse is laid down, his 
hody is rolled over, the fore part of it is reared up, himself is 
shaken, and the whole feat is produced by the direction of 
his master. 
* Page 41. 



MANNER OF ACTION. 159 

Allow me to recal an idea we considered in a former 
lecture. I said no action as such could be known distinct 
from the thing which acts ; that action as such is not per- 
ceptible, and that all things act, according to the ability 
they possess. To illustrate this idea : Take a magnet and 
lower it down over a piece of iron, till it attracts it to itself 
and holds it suspended there. If you are not in posses- 
sion of a magnet you can make one at your pleasure, by 
the following process. Lay your knife blade on a flat iron, 
or any hard, smooth surface ; let another take the old tongs 
or other iron which have stood erect for a considerable length 
of time, and draw it upon the blade for a minute or more. 
A magnetic power will be conveyed from the tongs to the 
blade sufficient to take up a common needle. The tongs 
themselves may be manufactured into a most perfect mag- 
net. Now as the knife holds the needle suspended beneath 
it you perceive there must be an action, a power, and 
cause exerted beyond our comprehension. Let the mag- 
netic power be extracted from the blade, and the needle will 
drop to the floor. A common unmagnetized blade will not 
raise and Iwld a needle as this does. How those tongs 
come in possession of such astonishing power ; by what 
process it is there retained ; the power and means of trans- 
mission of a parf of it to the knife blade, and the reason of 
the phenomena you now behold — an inanimate blade draw- 
ing to itself and there holding this needle suspended — will 
probably long remain unknown to mortals. But that such 
are the facts, incontestibly true, none will deny, for the ev- 
idence is before us. Now fix your attention on that needle. 
There is an active and acting principle in that as well as in 
the magnetized blade ; for the blade will not attract a splin- 
ter of wood, of whalebone, or piece of glass, tho equal in 



160 ON VERBS. 

size and weight. It will have no operation on them. Then 
it is by a sort of mutual affinity, a reciprocity of attach- 
ment,, between the blade and needle, that this phenomena is 
produced. 

To apply this illustration you have only to reverse the 
case — turn the knife and needle over — and see all things 
attracted to the earth by the law of gravitation, a principle 
abiding in all matter. All that renders the exhibition of the 
magnet curious or wonderful is that it is an uncommon con- 
dition of things, an apparent counteraction of the regular 
laws of nature. But we should know that the same sub- 
lime principle is constantly operating thro out universal na- 
ture. Let that be suspended, cease its active operationsF 
for a moment, and our own earth will be decomposed into 
particles ; the sun, moon and stars will dissolve and riiin- 
gle with the common dust ; all creation will crumble mh> 
atoms, and one vast ocean of darkness and chaos will fill 
the immensity of space. 

Are you then prepared to deny the principles for which 
we are contending ? I think you will not ; but accede the 
ground, that such being the fact, true in nature, language^ 
correctly explained, is only the medium by which the ideas 
of these great truths, may be conveyed from one mind to 
another, and must correspond therewith. If language is the 
sign of ideas, and ideas are the impressions of things, it 
follows of necessity, that no language can be employed un- 
less it corresponds with these natural laws, or first princi- 
ples. The untutored child cannot talk of these things, nor 
comprehend our meaning till clearly explained to it. But 
some people act as tho they thought children must first 
acquire a knowledge of words, and then begin to learn what 



THINGS TAKEN FOR GRANTED. 161 

such words mean. This is putting the " cart before the 
horse." 

Much, in this world, is to be taken for granted. We 
can not enter into the minutise of all we would express, or 
have understood. We go upon the ground that other peo- 
ple know something as well as we, and that they will ex- 
ercise that knowledge while listening to our relation of some 
new and important facts. Hence it is said that '^ brevity is 
the soul of wit." But suppose you should talk of surds, 
simple and quadratic equations, diophantine problems, and 
logarithms, to a person who knows nothing of proportion 
or relation, addition or subtraction. What would they know 
about your words ? You might as well give them a de- 
scription in Arabic or Esquimaux. They must first learn 
the simple rules on which the whole science of mathematics 
depends, before they can comprehend a dissertation on the 
more abstruse principles or distant results. So children 
must learn to observe things as they are, in their simplest 
manifestations, in order to understand the more secret and 
sublime operations of nature. And our languge should al- 
ways be adapted to their capacities ; that is, it should agree 
with their advancement. You may talk to a zealot in pol- 
itics of religion, the qualities of forbearance, candor, and 
veracity ; to the enthusiast of science and philosophy ; to 
the bigot of liberality and improvement; to the miser of 
benevolence and suffering ; to the profligate of industry 
and frugality; to the misanthrope of philanthropy and pa. 
triotism ; to the degraded sinner of virtue, truth, and heav, 
en ; but what do they know of your meaning? How are 
they the wiser for your instruction ? You have touched a 
cord which does not vibrate thro their hearts, or, phreno, 
logically, addressed an organ they do not possess, except in 



162 ON VERBS. 

a very moderate degree, at least. Food must be seasoned 
to the palates of those who use it. Milk is for babes and 
strong meat for men. Our instruction must be suited to tho 
capacities of those we would benefit, always elevated just 
far enough above them to attract them along the upward 
course of improvement. 

But it should be remembered that evils will only result 
from a deviation from truth, and that we can never be jus- 
tified in doing wrong because othors have, or for the sake 
of meeting them half way. And yet this very course is 
adopted in teaching, and children are learned to adopt cer- 
tain technical rules in grammar, not because they are truej 
but because they are convenient! In fact, it is said by 
some, that language is an arbitrary affair altogether, and is 
only to be taught and learned mechanically ! But who would 
teach children that seven times seven are fiftyy and nine 
times nine a hundred, and assign as a reason for so doing, 
that fifty and a hundred are more easily remembered than 
forty.nine and eighty-one 1 Yet there would be as much 
propriety in adopting such a principle in mathematics, as in 
teaching for a rule of grammar that when an objective, case 
comes after a verb, it is active ; but when there is none 
expressed, it is intransitive or neuter. 

The great fault is, grammarians do not allow themselves 
to think on the subject of language, or if they do, they only 
think intransitively, that is, produce no thoughts by their 
cogitations. 

This brings us to a more direct consideration of the sub- 
ject before us. All admit the correctness of the axiom that 
every effect must have a cause, and that every cause will 
have an effect. It is equally true that " like causes will 
produce like effects,^* a rule from which nature itself, and 



AN INTRANSITIVE VERB. 163 

thought, and language, can never deviate. It is as plain as 
that two things mutually equal to each other, are equal to 
a third. On this immutable principle we base our theory 
of the activity of all verbs, and contend that they must have 
an object after them, either expressed or necessarily under' 
stood. We can not yield this position till it is proved that 
causes can operate without producing effects, which can 
never be till the order of creation is reversed ! There nev- 
er was, to our knowledge, such a thing as an intransitive 
action, with the solitary exception of the burning bush.* In 
that case the laws of nature were suspended, and no effects 
were produced ; for the bush burned, but there was nothing 
burnt ; no consequences followed to the bush ; it was not 
consumed. The records of the past present no instance of 
like character, where effects have failed to follow, direct or 
more distantly, every cause which has been set in operation. 
It makes no difference whether the object of the action 
is expressed or not. It is the same in either case. But 
where it is not necessarily implied from the nature and fit- 
ness of things, it must be expressed, and but for such object 
or effect the action could not be understood. For example, 
/ run ; but if there is no effect produced, nothing run, how 
can it be known whether I run or not. If I write, it is ne- 
cessarily undei*stood that I write something — a letter, a book, 
a piece of poetry, a communication, or some other writing. 
When such object is not liable to be mistaken, it would be 
superfluous to express it — it would be a redundancy which 
should be avoided by all good writers and speakers. All Ian- 
guages are, in this respect, more or less eliptical, which con- 
stitutes no small share of their beauty, power, and elegance. 

« Exodus, iii. 2, 3. 



164 ON VERBS. 

This elipsis may be observed not only in regard to the 
objects of verbs, but in the omission of many nouns after 
adjectives, which thus assume the character of nouns ; as, 
the Almighty, the Eternal, the All wise, applied to God, un- 
derstoojd. So we say the wise, the learned, the good, the 
faithful, the wicked, the vile, the base, to which, if nouns, it 
would sound rather harsh to apply plurals. So we say, 
take your hat ofF( ) ; put your gloves on ( ) ; lay your 
coat ofF( ) ; and pull 3^our boots on ( ) ; presuming the 
person so addressed knows enough to fill the elipsis, and 
not take his hat off his back, pull his gloves on his feet, or 
his boots on his head. 

In pursuing this subject farther, let us examine the sam- 
pie words which are called intransitive verbs, because fre- 
quently used without the object expressed after them ; such 
as run, walk, step, fly, rain, snow, burn, roll, shine, smiles, 
&;c. 

" /rww." 

That here is an action of the first kind, none will deny. 
But it is contended by the old systems that there is no ob- 
ject on which the action terminates. If that be true then 
there is nothing run, no effect produced, and the first law of 
nature is outraged, in the very onset ; for there is a cause, 
but no effect ; an action, but no ohject. How is the fact ? 
Have you run nothing ? conveyed nothing, moved nothing 
from one place to another ? no change, no effect, nothing 
moved ? Look at it and decide. It is said that a neuter or 
intransitive verb may be known from the fact that it takes 
after it a preposition. Try it by this rule. " A man run 
against a post in a dark night, and broke his neck ;" that 
is, he run nothing against a post — no object to run- — and 
yet he broke his neck. Unfortunate man ! 



I RUN. 1 WALK. 165 

The fact in relation to this verb is briefly this : It is used 
to express the action which more usually terminates on the 
actor, than on any other object. This circumstance being 
generally known, it would be superfluous to mention the 
object, except in cases where such is not the fact. But 
whenever we desire to be definite, or when there is the least 
liability to mistake the object, it is invariably expressed. 
Instances of this kind are numerous. " They ran the loat 
ashore." " The captain ran his men to rescue them from 
the enemy." "They ran the gauntlet.^^ "They run a 
*toge to Boston." "He ran ^eWe^ into discredit." "One 
bank runs another." "The man had a hard run of it." 
" Run the account over, and see if it is right." " They run 
forty looms and two thousand spindles." " He runs his mill 
evenings." Such expressions are common and correct, 
because they convey ideas, and are understood. 

Two men were engaged in argument. The believer in 
intransitive verbs set out to run his opponent into an evident 
absurdity, and, contrary to his expectation, he ran himself 
into one. Leave out the objects of this verb, run, and the 
sense is totally changed. He set out to run into an evident 
absurdity, and he ran into one ; that is, he did the very ab- 
surd thing which he intended to do.* 

"iz^a/A;." 

The action expressed by this verb is very similar in 
character to the former, but rather slower in performance. 
Writers on health tell us that to walk is a very healthy ex- 
ercise, and that it would be v/ell for men of sedentary hab- 
its to walk several miles every day. But if there is no 
action in walk, or if it has no object necessarily walked, it 

* Cardell's granamar. 



166 ON VERBS. 

would be difficult to understand what good could result from 
it. 

" Did you have a pleasant walk this morning ?" says a 
teacher to his gramnnar class. 

" We did have a very pleasant one. The flowers were 
blooming on each side of the walk, and sent forth their 
sweetest aroma, perfuming the soft breezes of the morning. 
Birds were flitting from spray to spray, carolling their 
hymns of praise to Deity. The tranquil waters of the lake 
lay slumbering in silence, and reflected the bright rays of 
the sun, giving a sweet but solemn aspect to the whole 
scene. To go thro the grove, down by the lake, and up 
thro the meadow, is the most delightful walk a person can 
take." 

" How did you get your walk ?" 

" We walked it, to be sure ; how did you think we got 
it?" 

" oil, 1 «m nui know. Walk, your books ieil yOu, is aa 
intransitive verb, terminating on no object ; so I supposed, 
if you followed them, you obtained it some other way ; by 
riding, running, sailing, or, may be, bought it, as you could 
not have walked it ! Were you tired on your return ?" 

" We were exceedingly fatigued, for you know it is a 
very long walk, and we walked it in an hour." 

" But what tired you ? If there are no effects produced 
by walking, I can not conceive why you should be fatigued 
by such exercise." 

Who does not perceive what flagrant violations of gram- 
mar rules are committed every day, and every hour, and 
in almost every sentence that is framed to express our 
knowledge of facts. 



TO STEP. BIRDS FLY. 167 

To Step, 

This verb is the same in character with the two just no- 
ticed. It expresses the act o^ raising each foot alternately, 
and usually implies that the body is, by that means, con- 
veyed from one place to another. But as people step their 
feet and not their hands, or any thing else, it is entirely use- 
less to mention the object ; for generally, that can not be 
mistaken any more than in the case of the gloves, boots, and 
hat. But it would be bad philosophy to teach children that 
there is no objective word after it, because it is not written 
out and placed before their eyes. They will find such teach- 
ing contradicted at every step they take. Let a believer in 
intransitive verbs step on a red hot iron ; he will soon find 
to his sorrow, that he was mistaken when he thought that 
he could step without stepping any thing. It would be 
well for grammar, as well as many other things, to have 
more practice and less theory. The thief was detected by 
his steps. Step softly ; put your feet down carefully. 

Birds jiy. 

We learned from our primers, that 

" The ez.gle's flight 
Is out of sight." 

How did the eagle succeed in producing a. flight ? I suppose 
he flew it. And if birds ever fly, they must produce a flight. 
Such being the fact, it is needless to supply the object. But 
the action does not terminate solely on the flight produced, 
for that is only the name given to the action itself. The 
expression conveys to the mind the obvious fact, that, by 
strong muscular energy, by the aid of feathers, and the at- 
mosphere, the bird carries itself thro the air, and changes 
its being from one place to another. As birds rarely fly a 



168 ON VERBS. 

race, or any thing but themselves and a flight, it is not ne- 
cessary to suffix the object. 

It rains. 

This verb is insisted on as the strongest proof of intran- 
sitive action ; with what propriety, we will now inquire. It 
will serve as a clear elucidation of the whole theory of in- 
transitive verbs. 

What does the expression signify ? It simply declares 
the fact, that water is shed down from the clouds. But is 
there no object after rains ? There is none expressed. Is 
there nothing rained ? no effect produced ? If not, there can 
be no water fallen, and our cisterns would be as empty, our 
streams as low, and fields as parched, after a rain as before 
it ! But who that has common sense, and has never been 
blinded by the false rules of grammar, does not know that 
when it rains, it never fails to rain rain, water, or rain-water, 
unless you have one of the paddy's dry rains? When it 
hails, it hails hail, hail-stones, or frozen rain. When it 
snows, it snows snow, sometimes two f(;et of it, sometimes 
less. I should think teachers in our northern countries 
would find it exceeding difficult to convince their readers 
that snow is an intransitive verb — that it snows nothing. 
And yet so it is ; people will remain wedded to their old 
systems, and refuse to open their eyes and behold the evi- 
dences every where around them. Teachers themselves, 
the guides of the young — and I blush to say it, for I was 
long among the number — have, with their scholars, labored 
all the morning, breaking roads, shovelling snow, and clear- 
ing paths, to get to the school-house, and then set down and 
taught them that to snow is an mtransitive verb. What 
nonsense ; nay, worse, what falsehoods have been instilled 
into the youthful mind in the name of grammar ! Can we 



INTRANSITIVE VERBS.— IT RAINS. 169 

be surprised that people have not understood grammar? 
that it is a dry, cold, and lifeless business? 

I once lectured in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. In a conversa- 
tion with Miss B., a distinguished scholar, who had taught 
a popular female school for twenty years ; was remarking 
upon the subject of intransitive verbs, and the apparent in- 
consistency of the new system, that all verbs must have an 
object after them, expressed or understood ; she said, " there 
was the verb rain, (it happened to be a rainy day,) the 
whole action is confined to the agent ; it does not pass on 
to another object ; it is purely intransitive." Her aged 
mother, who had never looked into a grammar book, heard 
the conversation, and very bluntly remarked, " Why, you 
fool you, I want to know if you have studied grammar these 
thirty years, and taught it more than twenty, and have 
never lamed that when it rains it always rains rain ? If it 
did n^, do you s'pose you 'd need an umbrella to go out now 
into the storm ? I should think you 'd know better. I al- 
ways told you these plaguy grammars were good for noth- 
ing, I did n't b'lieve." " Amen," said I, to the good sense 
of the old lady, "you are right, and have reason to be 
thankful that you have never been initiated into the intricate 
windings, nor been perplexed with the false and contradic- 
tory rules, which have blasted many bright geniuses in their 
earliest attempts to gain a true knowledge of the sublime 
principles of language, on which depends so much of the 
happiness of human life." The good matron's remark was 
a poser to the daughter, but it served as a means of her^ 
entire deliverance from the thraldom of neuter verbs, and the 
adoption of the new principles of the exposition of language. 
The anecdote shows us how the unsophisticated mind 
will observe facts, and employ words as correctly, if not 
o 



170 ON VERBS. 

more so, than those schooled in the high pretensions of sci- 
ence, falsely taught. Who does not know from the com- 
monest experience, that the direct object of raining must 
follow as the necessary sequence ? that it can never fail ? 
And yet our philologists tell us that such is not always the 
case; and that the exception is to be marked on the singu- 
lar ground, whether the word is written out or omitted ! 
What a narrow view of the sublime laws of motion ! What 
a limited knowledge of things ! or else, what a mistake! 

"Then the Lord said unto Moses, behold, I will rain 
bread for you from heaven." 

"Then the Lord rained down, upon Sodom and Gomorrah, 
brimstone and fire, from the Lord out of heaven." — Bible, 

The fire burns. 

The fire burns the wood, the coal, or the peat. The 
great fire in New- York burned the buildings which covered 
fifty -two acres of ground. Mr. Experiment burns coal in 
preference to wood. His new grate burns it very finely. 
Red ash coal burns the best ; it makes the fewest ashes, and 
hence is the most convenient. The cook burns too much 
fuel. The house took fire and burned up. Burned what 
up ? Burn is an intransitive verb. It would not trouble 
the unfortunate tenant to know that there must be an object 
burned, or what it was. He would find it far more difficult 
lo rebuild his house. Do you suppose fires never burn any 
thing belonging to neuter verb folks? Then they never 
need pay away insurance money. With the solitary ex- 
ception I have mentioned— the burning bush — this verb can 
not be intransitive. 

The sun shines. 

This is an intransitive verb if there ever was one, because 
the object is not often expressed after it. But if the sun 



TO SHINE. TO SMILE. 171 

emits no rays of light, how shall it be known whether it 
shines or not ? " The radiance of the sun's bright beam- 
ing" is produced by the exhibition of itself, when it bright- 
ens the objects exposed to its rays or radiance. We talk of 
sun shine and moon shine, but if these bodies never produce 
effects how shall it be known whether such things are real ? 
Sun shine is the direct effect of the sun's shining. But 
clouds sometimes intervene and prevent the rays from extend- 
ing to the earth ; but then we do not say " the sun shines.'^ 
You see at once, that all we know or can know of the fact 
we state as truth, is derived from a knowledge of the very 
effects which our grammars tell us do not exist. Strange 
logic indeed ! It is a mark of a wiser man, and a better 
scholar, not to know the popular grammars, than it is to 
profess any degree of proficiency in them ! 

To smile. 

'fVje smiles of the morning, the smiles of affection, a smile 
of kindness, are only produced by the appearance of some- 
thing that smiles upon us. Smiles are the direct conse- 
quence of smiling. If a person should sfniJe ever so sweetly 
and yet present no smiles, they might, for aught we could 
know to the contrary, be sour as vinegar. 

But this verb frequently has another object after it ; as, 
" to smile the wrinkles from the brow of age," or " smile 
dull cares away." " A sensible wife would soon reason and 
smile him into good nature." 

But I need not multiply examples. When such men as 
Johnson, Walker, Webster, Murray, Lowthe, and a host of 
other wise and renowned men, gravely tell us that eat and 
drink, which they define, " to take food; to feed ; to take a 
meal ; to go to meals ; to be maintained in food ; to swallow 
liquors ; to q}iench thirst ; to take any liquid ;" are intrans- 



172 ON VERBS. 

iUve or neuter verbs, having no objects after them, we must 
think them insincere, egregiously mistaken, or else pos- 
sessed of a means of subsistence different from people gen- 
erally ! Did they eat and drink, "take food and swallow- 
liquors," ZTitransitively ; that is, without eating or drinking 
anything? Is it possible in the nature of things ? Who 
does not see the absurdity ? And yet they were great men, 
and nobody has a right to question such high authority. 
And the " simpTifiers'^ who have come after, making books 
and teaching grammar to earn their bread, have followed 
close in their footsteps, and, I suppose, eaten nothing, and 
thrown their bread away ! Was I a believer in neuter 
verbs and desired to get money, my first step would be to 
set up a boarding house for all believers in, and practisers 
of, intransitive verbs. I would' board cheap and give good 
fare. I could afford It, for no provisions wov.ld be con- 
sumed. 

Some over cautious minds, who are always second, if not 
last, in a good cause, ask us why these principles, if so true 
and clear, were not found out before ? Why have not the 
learned who have studied for many centuries, never seen 
and adopted them 1 It is a sufficient answer to such a 
question, to ask why the copernican sj-stem of astronomy 
was not sooner adopted, why the principles of chemistry, 
the circulation of the blood, the power and application of 
steam, nay, why all improvement was not known before. 
When grammar and dictionary makers, those wise ex- 
pounders of the principles of speech, have so far forgotten 
facts as to teach that eat and drink, " express neither action 
nor passion," or are " confined to the agents ;" that when 
a man eats, he eats nothing, or when he drinks, he drinks 
nothing, we need not stop long to decide why these things 



MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 173 

were unknown before. The wisest may sometimes mis- 
take ; and the proud aspirant for success, frequently passes 
over, unobserved, the humble means on which all true sue- 
cess depends. 

Allow me to quote some miscellaneous examples which 
will serve to show more clearly the importance of supply- 
ing the elipses, in order to comprehend the meaning of the 
writers, or profit by their remarks. You will supply the 
objects correctly from the attendant circumstances where 
they are not expressed. 

" Ask ( ) and ye shall receive ( ) ; seek ( ) and ye 
shall find ( ) ; knock ( ) and it shall be opened unto 
yon." 

Ask what 7 Seek what 1 Knock what 7 That it may 
be opened 1 Our '* Grammars Made Easy" would teach 
us to ask and seek nothing ! no objectives after them. 
What then could we reasonably expect to receive or find ? 
The thing we asked for, of course, and that was nothing! 
Well might the language apply to such, " Ye ask ( ) and 
receive not (naught) because ye ask ( ) amiss." False 
teaching is as pernicious to religion and morals as to sci- 
ence. 

" Charge them that are rich in this world — that they do 
good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute 
( ), willing to communicate ( )." — Paul to Timothy. 

The hearer is to observe that there is no object after these 
words — nothing distributed, or communicated ! There is too 
much such charity in the world. 

" He spoke ( ), and it was done ; he commanded ( )y 
and it stood fast." 

" Bless ( ), and curse ( ) not." — Bible. 

** Strike ( ) while the iron is hot."^ — Proverb. 
o* 



It4 ON VEEBS. 

" I came ( ), I saw ( ), I conquered ( ).'* — Ccesar^s 
Letter, 

He lives ( ) contented and happy. 

" The life that I now live, in the flesh, I live by the faith 
of the son of God." — Paul. 

" Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
end he like his." — Numbers. 

As bodily exercise particularly strengthens ( ), as it in- 
vites ( ) to sleep ( ), and secures ( ) against great dis. 
orders, it is to be generally encouraged. Gymnastic exer- 
cises may be established for all ages and for all classes. 
The Jews were ordered to take a walk out of the city on 
the Sabbath day ; and here rich and poor, young and old, 
master and slave, met ( ) and indulged ( ) in innocent 
mirth or in the pleasures of friendly intercourse. — Spurz^ 
lieim on Education, 

" Men will wrangle ( ) for religion ; write ( ) for it ; 
fight ( ) for it ; die ( ) for it; any thing but live { ) 
for it." — Lacon. 

I have addressed this volume to those that think ( ), and 
some may accuse me of an ostentatious independence, in 
presuming ( ) to inscribe a book to so small a minority. 
But a vokime addressed to those that think ( ) is in fact 
addressed to all the world ; for altho the proportion of those 
who do{ ) think ( ) be extremely small, yet every in- 
dividual flatters himself that he is one of the number." — 
Idem. 

What is the difference whether a man thinks or not, if he 
produces no thoughts ? 

" He that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so ; 
but he that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the great- 
est fooL"— Jriem. 



MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. ' 175 

" A man has many workmen employed ; some to plough 
( ) and SOW ( ), others to chop ( ) and split ( ) ; 
some to mow ( ) and reap ( ) ; one to score ( ) and 
hew ( ) ; two to frame ( ) and raise ( ). In his fac- 
tory he has persons to card ( ), spin ( ), reel ( ), spool 
( ), warp ( ), and weave ( ), and a clerk to deliver 
( ) and charge ( ), to receive ( ) and pay ( ). They 
eat ( ), and drink ( ), heartily, three times a day ; and 
as they work ( ) hard, and feel ( ) tired at niglit, they 
lay ( ) down, sleep ( ) soundly, and dream ( ) pleas- 
antly ; they rise ( ) up early to go ( ) to work ( ) 
again. In the morning the children wash ( ) and dress 
( ) and prepare ( ) to go ( ) to school, to learn ( ) 
to read ( ), write ( ), and cipher ( )." All neuter or 
intransitive verbs ! ! 

" The celebrated horse, Corydon, will perform ( ) on 
Tuesday evening in the circus. He will leap ( ) over 
four bars, separately, in imitation of the english hunter. 
He will lie ( ) down, and rise ( ) up instantly at the 
word of command. He will move ( ) backwards nnd side- 
ways, rear ( ) and stand ( ) on his hind feet ; he will 
sit ( ) down, like a Turk, on a cushion. To conclude 
( ), he will leap ( ), in a surprising manner, over two 
horses." — CardelVs Grammar. 

The gymnastic is not a mountebank; he palms off no 
legerdemain upon the public. He will stretch a Ime across 
the room, several feet from the floor, over which he will 
leap ( ) with surprising dexterity. He will stand ( ) on 
his head, balance, ( ) on one foot, and swing ( ) from 
side to side of the room ; lay ( ) crosswise, and sideways ; 
spring ( ) upon his feel ; bound ( ) upon the floor ; 
dance ( ) and keel ( ) over with out touching his hands. 



176 ON VERBS. 

He will sing ( ), play ( ), and mimic ( ) ; look ( ) 
like a king, and act ( ) like a fool. He will laugh ( ) 
and cry ( ), as if real ; roar ( ) like a lion, and chirp 
( ) like a bird. To conclude ( ) : He will do all this 
to an audience of neuter grammarians, v/ithout either *' ac- 
tion or passion,''^ all the while having a " state of heing^'' 
motionless, in the center of the room ! ! 

What a lie ! say you. A lie 1 I hope you do not ac- 
cuse me of lying. If there is any thing false in this matter 
it all lies in the quotation, at the conclusion, from the stand- 
ard grammar. If that is false, whose fault is it? Not mine, 
certainly. But what if I should lie ( ), intransitively ? I 
should tell no falsehoods. 

But enough of this. If there is any thing irrational or 
inconsistent, any thing false or ridiculous, in this view of the 
subject, it should be remembered that it has been long taught, 
not only in common schools, but in our academies and col- 
leges, as serious, practical truth ; as the only means of ac- 
quiring a correct knowledge of language, or fitting our- 
selves for usefulness or respectability in society. You smile 
at such trash, and well you may ; but you must bear in 
mind that grammar is not the only thing in which we may 
turn round and laugh ( ) at past follies. 

But I am disposed to consider this matter of more serious 
consequence than to deserve our laughter. When I see the 
rising generation spend months and years of the best and most 
important part of their lives, which should be devoted to the 
acquisition of that which is true and useful, studying the 
dark and false theory of language as usually taught, 1 am 
far from feeling any desire to laugh at the folly which im- 
poses such a task upon them. I remember too distinctly 
the years that have just gone by. I have seen too many 



EVILS OF FALSE TEACHING. l77 

blighted hopes, too many wearisome hours, too many sad 
countenances, too many broken resolutions ; to say nothing 
of corporeal chastisements ; to think it a small matter that 
children are erroneously taught the rudiments of language, 
because sanctioned by age, or great names. A change, an 
important change, a radical change, in this department of 
education, is imperiously demanded, and teachers must obey 
the call, and effect the change. There is a spirit abroad in 
the land which will not bow tamely and without complaint, 
to the unwarranted dictation of arbitrary, false, and contra- 
dictory rules, merely from respect to age. It demands 
reason, consistency and plainness ; and yields assent only 
where they are found. And teachers, if they will not lead 
in the reformation, must be satisfied to follow after ; for a 
reformation is loudly called for, and will be had. None are 
satisfied with existing grammars, which, in principle, are 
nearly alike. The seventy-three attempts to improve and 
simplify Murray, have only acted intransitively, and accom- 
plished very little, if any good, save the employment given 
to printers, paper makers, and booksellers. 

But I will not enlarge. We have little occasion to won- 
der at the errors and mistakes of grammar makers, when 
our lexicographers tell us for sober truth, that to act, to le 
in action, not to rest, to be in motion, to move, is v. n. a verb 
neuter, signifying no action! f or v. i. verb intransitive, 
producing no effects ; and that a " neuter verb expresses 
(active transitive verb) a state of being! f There are few 
minds capable of adopting such premises, and drawing 
therefrom conclusions which are rational or consistent. 
Truth is rarely elicted from error, beauty from deformity, 
or order from confusion. While, therefore, we allow the 
neuter systems to sink into forgetfulness, as they usually do 



178 ON VERBS. 

as soon as we leave school and shut our books, let us throw 
the mantle of charity over those who have thoughtlessly 
(without thinking thoughts) and innocently lead us many 
months in dark and doleful wanderings, in paths of error 
and contradiction, mistaken for the road to knowledge and 
usefulness. But let us resolve to save ourselves and future 
generations from following the same unpleasant and unprofi- 
table course, and endeavor to reflect the light which may 
shine upon our minds, to dispel the surrounding darkness, 
and secure the light and knowledge of truth to those who 
shall come after us. 

Many philologists have undertaken to explain our lan- 
guage by the aid of foreign tongues. Because there are 
genitive cases, different kinds of verbs, six tenses, etc. in 
the Latin or Greek, the same distinctions should exist in 
our grammars. But this argument will not apply, admit- 
ting that other languages will not allow of the plan of ex- 
position we have adopted, which we very seriously question, 
tho we have not time to go into that investigation. We 
believe that the principles we have adopted are capable of 
universal application ; that what is action in England would 
be action in Greece, Rome, Turkey, and every where else; 
that ^Hike causes will 'produce like effects''^ all the world over. 
It matters not by whom the action is seen, it is the same, 
and all who gather ideas therefrom will describe it as it ap- 
pears to them, let them speak what language they may. 
But if they have no ideas to express, they need no language 
to speak. Monkeys, for aught I know to the contrary, can 
speak as well as we ; but the reason they do not, is because 
they have nothing to say. 

Let Maelzael's automaton chess-player he exhibited to a 
promiscuous multitude. They would all attempt a descrip- 



PRINCIPLES APPLY UNIVERSALLY. 179 

tion of it, so far as they were able to gain a knowledge of 
its construction, each in his own language. Some might be 
unable to trace the cause, the moving power, thro all the 
curiously arranged means, to the agent who acted as prime 
mover to the whole affair. Others, less cautious in their 
conclusions, might think it a perpetual motion. Such would 
find a first cause short of the Creator, the great original 
of all things and actions ; and thus violate the soundest prin- 
ciples of philosophy. Heaven has never left a vacuum 
where a new and self sustaining power may be set in ope- 
ration independent of his ever-present supervision ; and 
hence the long talked of! perpetual motion is the vainest chi- 
mera which ever occupied the human brain. It may well 
appear as the opposite extreme of neuter verbs ; for, while 
one would give no action to matter according to the physical 
laws which regulate the world, the other would make mat- 
ter act of itself, independent of the Almighty. Be it ours to 
take a moro rational and consistent stand ; to view all things 
and beings as occupying a place duly prescribed by Infinite 
Wisdom, acting according to their several abilities, and sub- 
ject to the regulation of the all-pervading laws which guide, 
preserve, and harmonize the whole. 

If there is a subject which teaches us beyond controversy 
the existence of a Supreme Power, a Universal Father, an 
all-wise and ever-present God, it is found in the order and 
harmony of all things, produced by the regulation of Divine 
laws; and man's superiority to the rest of the world is most 
clearly proved, from the possession of a power to adapt 
language to the communication of ideas in free and social 
converse, or in the transmission of thought, drawn from aa 
observation and knowledge of things as presented to his 
understanding. 



180 ON VERBS* 

There is no science so directly important to the growth 
of intellect and the future happiness of the child, as the 
knowledge of language. Without it, what is life ? Wherein 
would man be elevated above the brute? And what is 
language without ideas? A sound witliout harmony— a 
shadow without a substance. 

Let language be taught on the principles of true philoso- 
phy, as a science, instead of an arbitrary, mechanical busi- 
ness, a mere art, and you will no longer hear the complaint 
of a ^^ dry, cold, uninteresting study." Its rules will be 
simple, plain, and easy ; and at every step the child will 
increase in the knowledge of more than ivords, in an ac- 
quaintance with principles of natural and moral science. 
And if there is any thing that will carry the mind of the 
child above the low and grovelling things of earth, and fill 
the soul with reverence and devotion to the Holy Being 
who fills immensity with his presence, it is when, from ob- 
serving the laws which govern matter, he passes to observe 
the powers and capabilities of the mind, and thence ascends 
to the Intellectual Source of light, life, and being, and con- 
templates the perennial and ecstatic joys which flow from 
the presence of Deity; soul mingling with soul, love absorbed 
in love, and God all in all. 



LECTURE XI. 



ON VERBS. 



The verb to be. — Compounded of different radical words. — Am. — 
Defined. — The name of Deity. — Ei. — Is. — Are. — Were, was. — 
Be. — A dialogue. — Examples. — Passive Verbs examined. — Can- 
not be in the present tense. — ^The past participle is an adjective. 

We have gone through the examination of neuter and 
intransitive verbs, with the exception of the verb to be, 
which we propose to notice in this place. Much more 
might be said on the subjects I have discussed, and many 
more examples given to illustrate the nature and operation 
of actions as expressed by verbs, and also in reference to 
the objects of action ; but I trust the hints I have given will 
be satisfactory. I am confident, if you will allow your 
minds to think correct thoughts, and not suffer them to he 
misled by erroneous teaching, you will arrive at the same 
conclusion that I have, viz. that all verbs depend on a com- 
mon principle for their explanation ; that they are alike ac- 
tive, and necessarily take an object after them, either ex- 
pressed or understood, in accordance with the immutable 
law of nature, which teaches that like causes will produce 
like effects. 

The verb to be, as it is called, is conjugated by the aid 
of six different words, in its various modes and teidses ; am, 
is, are, was, were, be. Am is unchanged, always in the in- 



182 ON VERBS. 

dicative mood, present tense, agreeing with the first person 
singular. Is is also unchanged, in the same mood and 
tense, agreeing with the iliird person singular. Art, in the 
singular, is the same as are in the plural. Was and wast^ 
are the same as were and wert in meaning, being derived 
from the same etymon. Be, heing, and heen, are changes 
of the same word. Be was formerly extensively used in 
the indicative present, but in that condition it is nearly ob- 
solete. Were was also used in the singular as well as 
plural, especially when coming before the agent ; as, " were 
I to go, I would do your business." But, it is now more 
common to have was correctly used in that case. But, as 
one extreme often follows another, people have laid were 
quite too much aside, and often crowd was into its place in 
common conversation ; as " we was (were) there yesterday." 
"There was (were) five or six men engaged in the busi- 
ness."" This error appears to be gaining ground, and should 
be checked before it goes farther. 

The combination of these different words was produced 
by habit, to avoid the monotony which the frequent recur- 
rence of one word, so necessary in the expression of thought, 
would occasion : the same as the past tense of go is made 
by the substitution of another word radically different, went, 
the past tense of wend or wind. " O'er hills and dales they 
wend their way." " The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the 
lea." Go and wend convey to our minds nearly the same 
ideas. The latter is a little more poetical, because less 
used. But originally their signification was quite different. 
So with the parts of the verb to be. They were consoli- 
dated as a matter of convenience, and now appear in their 
respective positions to express the idea of being, life, or ex- 
istence. 



VERB TO BE. 1 AM. 183 

I have said this verb expresses the highest degree of ac- 
tion. I will now attennpt to prove it. I should like to go 
into a labored and critical examination of the words, and 
trace their changes thro various languages, was it in ac- 
cordance with the design of these lectures. But as it is not, 
I shall content nnyself with general observations. 

I am. 

This word is not defined in our dictionaries. It is only 
said to be *' the first person of to Se." We must look for its 
meaning some where else. It is a compound of two ancieut 
words, ah, breath, to breathe, life, to live, light, to light ; and 
ma, the hand, or to hand. It signifies to vivify, sustain, or 
support one's self in being or existence. In process of time, 
like other things in this mutable worW, its form was changed, 
but the meaning retained. But as one person could not 
vivify or live another, inflate another's lungs, or breathe 
acolher's breath, it became restricted to the first person. It 
means, I breathe breath, vivify myself, live life, or exercise 
the power of being or living. It conveys this fact in every 
instance, for no person incapable of breathing can say / am. 
Let any person pronounce the word ah-ma, and they will 
at once perceive the appropriateness of the meaning here 
given. It is very similar to the letter h, and the pronoun, 
(originally noun,) he, or the ^^ rough breathing''^ in the Greek 
language. Ma is compounded with many words which 
express action done by the hand ; as, manufacture, maiwx- 
mit. It denoted any action or work done by the hand as 
the instrument ; but, like other words, it gradually changed 
its import, so as to express any effective operation. Hence 
the union of the words was natural and easy, and ahma de- 
noted breathing, to live or sustain life. H is a precarious 
letter in all languages that use it, as the pronunciation of it 



184 ON VERBS. 

by many who speak the Enghsh language, will prove. It 
was long ago dropt, in this word, and after it the last «, so 
that we now have the plain word am. 

It was formerly used as a noun in our language, and as 
such may be found in Exodus 3 : 13, 14. " And Moses 
said unto God, Behold when I come unto the children of 
Israel and shall say unto them. The God of your fathers 
sent me unto you; and they shall say to me. What is his 
name ? what shall I say unto them 1 And God said unto 
Moses, I AM the I AM ; and he said. Thus shalt thou say 
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." 
Chap. 6: 3. — " I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and 
unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty ; but by my 
name Jehovah (I AM) was I not known unto them." The 
word Jehovah is the same as am. It is the name of the 
self-existent, self-sustaining Being, who has not only power 
to uphold all things, but to perform the still more sublime 
action of upholding or sustaining himself. This is the high- 
est possible degree of action. Let this fail, and all creation 
will be a wreck. He is the ever-living, uncontrolled, un- 
failing, unassisted, and never -changing God, the Cj'eator, 
Preserver, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End of 
all things. He is the First Cause of all causes, the Agent, 
original moving Power, and guiding Wisdom, which set in 
motion the wheels of universal nature, and guides and gov- 
erns them without "variableness or the shadow of turning." 

" I AM the first, and I, the last, 

Thro endless years the same ; 
1 AM is my memorial still, 

And my eternal name." — Watts' Hymn. 

Ask the Jews the meaning of this neuter verb in their 
language. They hold it in the most profound and supersti- 



I AM . NAME OF DEITY. 185 

tious reverence. After the captivity of their nation they 
never dared pronounce the nanie except once a year when 
the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, and hence the 
true pronunciation of it was lost. Unto this day they dare 
not attempt to utter it. In all their writings it remains in 
characters untranslated. When their Messiah comes they 
expect he will restore the pronunciation, and by it they 
shall be able to accomplish all things.* 

According to Plutarch the Greeks had the letters EI, 
THOU ART, engraven on the temple of Apollo at Delphi, 
which is the second person of Eimi, I am.-\ 

This motto was doubtless borrowed from the Jews, to 
whom it was given as the name of the God of Jacob. The 
same name you may see engraven on monuiiients, on pic- 
tures of the bible, on masonic implements, and in various 
places, untranslated. 

Who can suppose that this word " expresses no action," 
when the very person incapable of it can not utter it, and no 
one else can speak it for him ? It denotes the highest con- 
ceivable action applied to Deity or to man, and it is ques- 



* The Jews long preserved this name in Samaritan letters to 
keep it from being known to strangers. The modern Jews affirm 
that by tbis mysterious name, engraven on bis rod, Moses per- 
formed the wonders recorded of him ; that Jesus stole the name 
from the temple and put it into his thigh between the flesh and 
skin, and by its power accomplished the miracles attributed to him. 
They think if they could pronounce the word correctly, the very 
heaveas and earth would tremble, and angels be filled with terror. 

t Plutarch says, " This title is not only proper but peculiar to 
God, because He alone is being ; for mortals have no participation 
o? true being, because that which begins and ends, and is constantly 
changing, is never one nor the same, nor ia the same state. The 
deity on vvliosc temple this word was inscribed was called Apollo, 
Apollon, from a negative and pollus, many, because God is one, 
his nature simple, and uncompounded.^^ — Vide, Clark's Com, 



186 ON VERBS. 

tionable philosophy which dares contradict this fact. The 
action expressed by it, is not changed, because it does not 
terminate on a foreign object. It remains the same. It is 
self-action. 

He is. 

This word is constructed from an old verb signifying to 
stand forth, to appear, to show ont'^s self, and may be traced, 
I think, to the latin eo, to go, and exist, to exeo, to go from ; 
that is, our being or existence, came or stood forth from God. 
It is certainly a contraction from the old english to exist. 
1st is the spelling still retained in the german and some 
other languages. It denotes self-action. One man does 
not exist another, but himself. He keeps himself m exist- 
ence. 

We are, thou are-est, arst, or art. 

Be not surprized when I tell you this is the same word as 
air, for such is the fact. It signifies to inhale air, to air 
ourselves, or Ireathe air. " God breathed into man the 
breath oflfe, and man became a living soul.^' The new 
born infant inhales air, inflates its lungs with air, and begins 
to live. We all know how essential air is to the preserva- 
tion of life. No animal can live an instant without it. 
Drop a squirrel into a receiver from which all air has been 
extracted, and it can not live. Even vegetables will die 
where there is no air. Light is also indispensable to life and 
health. Air is inhaled and exhaled, and from it life receives 
support. The fact being common, it is not so distinctly ob- 
served by the careless, as tho it was more rare. But did 
you never see the man dying of a consumption, when the 
pulmonary or breathing organs were nearly decayed ? 
How he labors for breath ! He asks to have the windows 
thrown open. At length he suffocates nxid dies. Most per- 



WAS. WERE. TO BE. 18l* 

sons Struggle hard for breath in the hour of dissolving na- 
ture. The heaving bosom, the hollow gasp for air^ tells 
us that the lamp of life is soon to be extinguished, that the 
hour of their departure has come. 

When a person faints, we carry them into the air, or blow 
air upon them, that nature may be restored to its regular 
course. In certain cases physicians find it necessary to 
force air into the lungs of infants ; they can after that air, 
themselves, imbibe or drink in air, or inspirit themselves 
with air. But I need not enlarge. Whoever has been de- 
prived of air and labored hard for breath in a stifled or un- 
wholesome air, can appreciate what we mean. 

We were ; he was. 

I have said before that these words are the same, and are 
used in certain cases irrespective of number. I have good 
authority for this opinion, altho some etymologists give them 
different derivations. 

Were, wert ; worth, icerth ; icord and werde, are derived 
from the same etymon and retain a similarity of meaning. 
They signify spirit, life, energy. " In the beginning was 
the word, and the word was with God." "By the word of 
his grace." 

" They were,'^ they inspirited themselves, possessed the 
life, vitality, or spirit, the Creator gave them, and having 
that spirit, life, or energy, under proper regulation, in due 
degree, they were worthy of the esteem, regard, sympathy, 
and good word of others. 

To be. 

This is considered the root of all the words we have con- 
sidered, and to it all others are referred for a definition. 
Dictionaries give no definition to am, is, are, was, and were, 
all of them as truly principal verbs as be, and possessed of 



188 ON VERBS. 

as distinct a meaning. It can hardly be possible that they 
should form so important a part of our language, and yet be 
incapable of definition. But such is the fact, the most sig- 
nificant words in our language, and those most frequently 
used, are undefined in the books. 

Mr. Webster says to be signifies, " to exist, to have a 
real state or existence,'''' and so say Walker and Johnson. 
Now if it is possible to " have a state of being without action 
or passion," then may this word express neutrality. But 
the very definition requires activity, and an object expressed. 
It denotes the act of being, or living; to exercise ihe powers 
of life, to maintain a position or rank in the scale of existent 
things. 

The name of the action is being, and applies to the Al- 
mighty BEING who exists unchanged as the source of all 
inferior beings and things, whose name is Jehovah, I AM, 
the Being of beings, the Fountain of light, life, and wisdom. 

Be is used in the imperative and infinitive moods correct- 
ly, by every body who employs language. " Be here in 
ten minutes." ^^Be zY far from thee." " I will be in Boston 
before noon." If there is any action in going from Provi- 
dence to Boston at rail-road speed, in two hours, or before 
noon, it is all expressed by the verb be, which we are told 
expresses no action. 

The teacher says to his scholars when out at play, " I 
want you to be in your seats in five minutes." What would 
they understand him to mean ? that they should stand still ? 
or that they should change their state of being from play in 
the yard, to a state of being in their seats ? There is no 
word to denote such change, except the word to be. Be off, 
he gone, he here, he there, are commands frequently given 
and correctly understood. 



TO BE. A DIALOGUE. 169 

The master says to a briglit little lad, who has well 
learned his grammar, "Be here in a minute." 

"Yes, sir, I will be there ;" but he does not move. 

"Be here immediately." 

"Yes, yes, I will be there." 

"Don't you understand me? I say, be here instantly." 

"Oh, yes, I understand you and will obey." 

The good man is enraged. "You scoundrel," says he, 
" do you mean to disobey my orders and insult me ?" 

" Insult you and disobey you ; I have done neither," re- 
plies the honest boy. 

" Yes you have, and I will chastise you severely for it." 

" No, master, I have not ; I declare, I have not. I have 
obeyed you as well as I know how, to the very letter and 
spirit of your command." 

" Did n't I tell you to be here in a minute, and have not 
you remained where you were ? and did n't you say you 
would be here ?" 

"Yes, sir ; and did not I do just what you told me to ?" 

" Why, no, you blockhead ; I told you to be here." 

" Well, I told you I would be there." 

" You was not here." 

" Nor did you expect I would be, iC you have taught me 
to speak, write, and understand correctly." 

" What do you mean, you saucy boy ?" 

"I mean to mind my master, and do what he tells me to." 

« Why did n't you do so then ?" 

"I did." 

"You didn't." 

"I did." 

"You lie, you ii^ull me, you contradict me, you saucy 
fellow. You are not fit to be in school. I will punish you 



190 GN VERBS. 

severely." And in a passion he starts for his ferrule, takes 
the boys hand, and bruises him badly ; the honest little 
fellow all the while pleading innocence of any intended 
wrong. 

In a short time they commence parsing this sentence : 
*' It is necessary to he very particular in ascertaining the 
meaning of words before we use them." The master puts 
to he to the same boy. He says it is an active verb, infini- 
tive mood. 

" How is that ? an active verb ?" 

" Yes, sir." 

" No, it is not. It is a neuter verb." 
: " Begging your pardon, master, it is not. It is active." 

" Have I got to punish you again so soon, you impudent 
fellow. You are not fit to be in school. I will inform 
your parents of your conduct." 

" What have I done that is wrong ?" 

"You say to he is an active wevh, when I tell you, and 
the grammar and dictionary tell you, it is neuter /" 

" What is a neuter verb, master ?" 

" It expresses " neither action nor passion, but being or a 
state of being.' Have you forgotten it ?" 

" No, sir, I thought that was the case." 

" What did you ask me for then ?" 

" Because I supposed you had found another meaning for 
it." 

"To what do you allude, you troublesome fellow, you? 
I '11 not bear your insults much longer." 

"For what did you punish me so severely just now?" 

"For disobeying my orders." 

"What did you order me to do?" 

^^To he here in a minute." 



EXAMPLES OF TO BE. 191 

" Well, did not I do what you told me ?" 

" No ; you kept your seat, and did not come near me." 

" Well, I thought and did just what you now tell me ; that 
«o ^ is a neuter verb, expressing no action, but heing. I 
had a state of being, and promised to keep it, and did keep 
it, and you punished me for doing the very thing you told 
me to do ! !" 

The master looked down, shut up his book, and began to 
say that grammar is a " dry, cold, and useless'^ study, hard- 
ly worth the trouble of learning it. 

" / am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, 
saith the Lord, who is, and who z^a^, and who is to come, 
the Almighty." — Rev. 1 : 8. 

If there is any action in maintaining eternal existence, by 
which all things were created and are upheld, it is ex- 
pressed in the verbs am, is, and was. 

God said, " Let there he light, and there was light ;" or 
more properly rendered, " Light be, and light was." 

Was there no action in setting the sun, moon and stars in 
the firmament, and in causing them to send forth the rays 
of light to dispel the surrounding darkness ? If there was, 
he and was denote that action. 

" You are commanded to be and appear before the court 
of common pleas," etc. A heavy penalty is imposed upon 
those who fail to comply with this citation — for neglecting 
to do what is expressed by the neuter verb to be. 

Such cases might be multiplied without number, where 
this verb is correctly used by all who employ language, 
and correctly understood by all who are capable of know- 
ing the meaning of words. But I think you must all be 
convinced of the truth of our proposition, that all verbs ex- 



192 ON VERBS. 

press action, either real or relative ; and in all cases have 
an object, expressed or necessarily implied, which stands as 
the effect, and an agent, as the cause of action : and hence 
that language, as a means for the communication of thought, 
does not deviate from the soundest principles of philosophy, 
but in all cases, rightly explained, serves to illustrate them, 
in the plainest manner. 

A few remarks on the " Passive Verb," and I will con- 
clude this part of our subject, which has already occupied 
much more of our attention than I expected at the outset. 

" A verh passive expresses a passion or a suffering, or 
the receiving of an action ; and necessarily implies an ob- 
ject acted upon, and an agent by which it is acted upon ; 
as, to be loved ; Penelope is loved by me." 

In the explanation of this verb, grammarians further tell 
us that a passive verb is formed by adding the verb to be, 
which is thus made auxiliary, to a past participle ; as, Por- 
tia was loved. Pompey was conquered. 

h is singular how forgetful our great men sometimes are 
about observing their own rules. Take an instance in Mr, 
Walker's octavo dictionary. Look for the word simeter, a 
small sword. You will find it spelled scimitar. Then turn 
over, and you will find it simitar, with the same definition, 
and the remark, "more properly cimetar." Then turn 
back, and find the correct word as he spells it, and there 
you will find it cimeter. 

Unsettled as to the true spelling, go to our own honored 
Webster. Look for "scimiter." He says, see cimitar. 
Then look for " cimitar ;" see cimeter. Then hunt up the 
true word, be it ar or er, and you will find it still another 
way, cimtter. Here the scholar has seven different ways 



PASSIVE VERBS. 193 

to spell this word, and neither of his authorities have fol- 
lowed their own examples. I cite this as one of a thousand 
instances where our savans have laid down rules for others, 
and disregarded them themselves. 

Portia is loved and happy. She is respectable, virtuous^ 
talented, and respected by all who know her. She is sealed 
by the door. Does the door seat her 1 What agent, then, 
causes her passion or suffering 7 

The book is printed. Will you parse is printed 1 It is 
a passive verb, indicative mood, present tense. Who is 
printing it ? causing it, in the present tense, to suffer or re- 
ceive the action ? The act of printing was performed a 
hundred years ago. How can it be present time ? 

Penelope is loved by me. The blow is received by me. 
It is given by me. Penelope is seated by me. The earth- 
quake is felt by her. The evils are suffered by her. The 
thunder is heard by her. Does this mean that she is the 
agent, and the earthquake, evils, and thunder, are the ob- 
jects which receive the effects which she produces ? That 
would be singular philosophy, indeed. But to feel, to suffer. 
and to hear, are active, and are constructed into passive 
verbs. Why is it not as correct to say she is suffering by 
another's wrongs, is raging by the operation of passion, or 
is travelling by rail-road, are passive verbs ? The fact is, 
our language can not he explained by set rules or forms of 
speech. We must regard the sense. The past participle, 
as it is called, becomes an adjective by use, and describes 
her as some way affected by a previous action. She is 
learned, handsome, modest, and, of course, beloved by all 
who know her. 

To say " she is placed by the water's edge," is a passive 
verb, and that the water's edge, as the agent, causes her 



194 ON VERBS. 

" passion, suffering, or receiving of the action," is false and 
ridiculous, for she placed herself there. 

" We are seated on our seats by the stove." What pow- 
er is now operating on us to naake us suffer or receive the 
action of being seated on our seats ? Does the stove per- 
form this action? This is a passive verb, present tenser 
which requires an "object acted upon, and an agent by 
which it is acted upon." But we came in and seated our- 
selves here an hour ago. 

The man is acquitted. He stands acquitted before the 
public. He is learned^ wise, and happy, very much im- 
proved within a fevr years. He is always active, studious, 
and engaged in his own affairs. He is renowned^ and val- 
orous. She is respected. She lives respected. 

If there is such a thing as a passive verb, it can never 
be used in the present tense, for the action expressed by the 
principal verb which is produced by the agent operating 
upon the object, is always past tense, and the auxiliary, or 
helping verb to le, is always present. Let this verb be ana- 
lyzed, and the true meaning of each word understood, little 
difficulty will be found in giving it an explanation. 

I will not spend more time in exposing the futility of this 
attempted distinction. It depends solely on a verbal form, 
but can never he explained so as to he understood by any 
scholar. Most grammarians have seen the fallacy of at. 
tempting to give the meaning of this verb. They can show 
its form, but are frequently compelled^ as in the cases 
above, to sort out the ^^ passed participles" from a host of 
adjectives, and it will he found exceeding troublesome to 
make scholars perceive any difference in the use of the 
words, or in the construction of a sentence. But it may be 
they have never thought that duty belonged to them ; that 



PAST PARTICIPLES ARE ADJECTIVES. 195 

they have nothing to do but to show them what the book 
says. Suppose they should teach arithmetic on the same 
principles, and learn the scholars to set down 144 as the 
product of 12 times 12. Let them look at the form of the 
figures, observe just how they appear, and make some more 
like them, and thus go thro the book. What would the 
child know of arithmetic? Just as much as they do of 
grammar, and no more. They would understand nothing 
of the science of numbers, of proportion, or addition. They 
would exercise the power of imitation, and make one figure 
look like another. Beyond that, all would be a terra in- 
cognita, a land unknown. So in the science of language ; 
children may learn that the verb to he, joined with the past 
participle of an active verb, makes a passive verb ; but 
what tliat passive verb is when made, or how to apply it, 
especially in the present tense, they have no means of 
knowing. Their knowledge is all taken on trust, and when 
thrown upon their own resources, they have none on which 
to rely. 



LECTURE XII. 



ON VERBS. 



Mood. — Indicative. Imperative.^ Infinitive. Former distinc- 
tions. — Subjmictive mood. — Time.— Past. — Present. — Future. — 
The future explained. — How formed. — Mr. Murray's distinction 
of time. — Imperfect. — Pluperfect. — Second future. — How many- 
tenses. — Auxiliary Vkrbs.— Will.— Shall.— May. — Must.— Can. 
— Do. — Have. 



We are now come to consider the different relations of 
action in reference to manner and time. We shall endeavor 
to be as brief as possible upon this subject, keeping in view 
meanwhile that candor and perspicuity which are indispens- 
able in all our attempts to explain new views. 

Mood signifies manner. Applied to verbs it explains 
how, in what manner, by what means, under what circum- 
stances, actions are performed. 

There ryo three moods, the indicative or declarative, the 
imperative or commanding, and the infinitive or unlimited. 

The indicative mood declares an action to be done or do- 
ing, not done, or not doing. It is always in the past or 
present tense ; as, David killed Goliath ; scholars learn 
knowledge ; I spoke not a word ; they sing not. 

The imperative mood denotes a conimand given from the 
first person to the second, to do or not do an action. It ex- 
presses the wish or desire of the first person to have a cer- 
tain action performed which depends on the agency of the 



MOODS. 197 

second. The command is present, but the action signified 
by the word is future to the giving of the command. The 
second person cannot comply with the will of the first till 
such will is made known ; as, bring me a book ; go to the 
door. 

The infinitive mood has no direct personal agent, but 
is produced as a necessary consequence, growing out of a 
certain condition of things. It is always future to such 
condition ; that is, some prior arrangement must be had 
before such consequences will follow. It is always yw/wre ; 
as, they are collecting a force to besiege the city. We 
study grammar to acquire a knowledge of language. Win- 
dows are made to admit light. The act of besieging the 
city depends on the previous circumstance, the collection of 
a force to do it. Were there no windows, the light would 
not be admitted to the room. * 

These distinctions in regard to action must be obvious to 
every hearer. You all are aware of the fact that action 
necessarily implies an actor, as every effect must have an 
efficient cause ; and such aciion clearly or distinctly indi. 
cated, must have such an agent to produce it. 2d. You 
are acquainted with the fact that one person can express 
his will to the second, directing him to do or avoid some 
thing. 3d. From an established condition of things, it is 
easy to deduce a consequence which will follow, in the na- 
ture of things, as an unavoidable result of such a combina- 
tion of power, cause, and means. 

With these principles you are all familiar, whether you 
have studied grammar or not. They are clearly marked, 
abundantly simple, and must be obvious to all. They form 
the only necessary, because the only real, distinction, in the 
formation and use of the verb to express action. Any mi- 



198 ON VERBS. 

nor distinctions are only calculated to perplex and embar- 
rass the learner. 

But some grammarians have passed these natural barriers^ 
and built to themselves schemes to accord with their own 
vain fancies. The remarks of Mr. Murray upon this point 
are very appropos. He says : 

"Some writers have given our moods a much greater 
extent than we have assigned to them. They assert that 
the english language may be said, without any great im- 
propriety, to have as many moods as it has auxiliary verbs; 
and they allege, in support of their opinion, that the com- 
pound expression which they help to form, point out those 
various dispositions and actions, which, in other languages, 
are expressed by moods. This would be to multiply the 
moods without advantage. It is, however, certain, that the 
conjugation or variation of verbs, in the english language, 
is effected, almost entirely, by the means of auxiliaries. 
We must, therefore, accommodate ourselves to this circum- 
stance ; and do that by their assistance, which has been 
done in the learned languages (a few instances to the con- 
trary excepted) in another manner, namely, by varying the 
form of the verb itself. At the same time, it is necessary 
to set proper bounds to this business, so as not to occasion 
obscurity and perplexity, when we mean to be simple and 
perspicuous. Instead, therefore, of making a separate mood 
for every auxiliary verb, and introducing moods interroga- 
tive, optative, promissive, hortative, precative, &c., we have 
exhibited such only as are obviously distinct ; and which, 
whilst they are calculated to unfold and display the subject 
intelligibly to the learner, seem to be sufficient, and not 
more than sufficient, to answer all the purposes for which 
moods were introduced. 



ERRONEOUS DISTINCTIONS. 199 

" From grammarians who form their ideas, and make 
their decisions, respecting this part of engHsh grammar, on 
the principles and constructions of languages which, in these 
points, do not suit the peculiar nature of our own, but differ 
considerably from it, we may naturally expect grammatical 
schemes that are not very perspicuous nor perfectly con- 
sistent, and which will tend more to perplex than to inform 
the learner." 

Had he followed this rule, he would have saved weeks 
and months to every student in grammar in the community. 
But his remarks were aimed at Mr. Harris, who was by far 
the most popular writer on language in England at that time. 
He has adopted the very rules of Mr. Murray, and carried 
them out. By a careful observance of the different forms 
and changes of the verb and its auxiliaries, he makes out 
quite evidently to his own mind, fourteen moods, which I 
forbear to name. 

Most grammarians contend for^ve moods, two of which, 
the potential or powerful, and the subjunctive, are predica- 
ted on the same principles as Mr. Harris' optative, interro- 
gative, etc., which they condemn. It is impossible to ex- 
plain the character of these moods so as to be understood. 
If, it is said, is the sign of the subjunctive, and may and can 
of the potential ; and yet they are often found together ; as, 
" I will go if 1 can.^^ No scholar can determine in what 
mood to put this last verb. It of right belongs to both the 
potential and subjunctive. If I may be allowed to speak 
my mind, I should say that such distinctions were false. 

I will not go into an exposure of these useless and false 
distinctions, which are adopted to help carry out erroneous 
principles. The only pretence for a subjunctive mood is 
founded on the fact that he and were were formerly used in 



$^00 ON VERBS. 

a character different from what they are at present. Be 
was used in the indicative mood, present tense, when doubt 
or supposition was implied ; as, If I be there ; if they be 
wise. Be 1 a man, and receive such treatment ? Were 
was also used instead of was in the past tense ; as, " Were 
I an American I would fight for liberty. If I were to ad- 
mit the fact." In this character these words are rapidly 
becoming obsolete. We now say, "Ifl«mthere; ami 
a man, and receive such abuses ? was I an American ; if I 
was to admit," etc. 

All the round about, perplexing, and tedious affair of 
conjugating verbs thro the different modes and tenses^ will 
appear in its true character, when we come to give you a 
few brief examples, according to truth and plain sense. 
But before doing that it will be necessary to make sohne re- 
marks on time. 

7'ense means time. We distinguish time according to 
certain events which are generally observed. In the use 
of the verb we express action in reference to periods of 
time when it is performed. 

There are three tenses, or divisions of time ; past, pres- 
ent, and future. 

Past tense applies to actions which are accomplished ; 
as, I wrote a book ; he recited his lesson. 

Present tense denotes actions commenced, but not fin- 
ished, and now in operation ; as, he reads his book; we sit 
on our seats and hear the lecture. 

Future tense refers to actions, which are to take place 
hereafter ; as, I am to go from the Institute ; we desire to 
learn grammar correctly. 

Every body can mark three plain distinctions of timet 
past, present, and future. With the past we have been ac- 



FUTURE TENSE. 201 

quaintcd. It has ceased to be. Its works are ended. The 
present is a mere line — , nothing as it were — which is con- 
stantly passing unchecked from the past to the future. It 
is a mere division of the past and future. The Hebrew, 
which is strictly a philosophic language, admits no present ; 
onW a past and future. We speak of the present as de- 
noting an action begun and not finished. In the summer, 
we say the trees grow% and bear fruit. But when the fruit 
is fallen, and the leaves seared by the frost, we change the 
expression, and say, it greic and hore fruit. 

O^ the future we can know nothing definitely. Heaven 
has hung before all human eyes an impenetrable veil which 
obscures all future events. No man without prophetic vis- 
ion bestowed by Him who *•' sees the end from the begin- 
ning," can know what is to be, and no expression can be 
made, no words employed which will positively declare a 
future action. We may see a present condition of things, 
and from it argue what is to he, or take place hereafter ; 
but all that knowledge is drawn from the past and deduced 
from a review of the present relation and tendencies of 
things. 

I hold the paper near the fire and you say it unll burn, 
and you say truly, for it has a icill, or what is the same, an 
inherent tendency to hum. It is made of combustible mat- 
ter, like paper which we have seen burn, and hence we ar- 
gue this has the same tendency to be consumed. But how 
does your mind arrive at that fact ? If you had never seen 
a substance like it burn, why should you conclude this w;z7Z? 
Does the child know it will burn ? No ; for it has not yet 
learned the quality of the paper. It is not till the child has 
been burned that it dreads the fire. Suppose I take some 



202 ON VERBS. 

asbestus, of the kind called amianthus, which is a mineral, 
and is formed of slender flexible fibres like flax ; and in 
eastern countries, especially in Savoy and Corsica, is man- 
ufactured into cloth, paper, and lamp wicks. It was used 
in making winding sheets for the dead, in which the bodies 
were burned, and the ashes, retained in the incombustible 
sheet, were gathered into an urn, and revered as the manes 
of the dead. Suppose I take some of this incombustible 
paper or cloth and present to you. You say it will burn. 
Why do you say thus ? Because you have seen other ma- 
terials which appear like this, consume to ashes. Let us 
put it into the fire. It will not burn. It has no tendency 
to burn ; no quality which will consume. But this is a new 
idea to you and hence your mistake. You did not know- 
it would burn, nor could you indicate such a fact. You only 
told your opinion derived from the present appearance of 
things, and hence you made an assertion in the indicative 
mood, present tense, and added to it an infinitive mood, in 
order to deduce the consequence of this future action — ^it 
wills, or has a tendency to burn. But you were mistaken, 
because ignorant of the nature of things. This amianthus 
looks like flax, and to a person unacquainted with it, ap- 
pears to be as truly combustible ; but the mineralogist, and 
all who know its properties, know very well that it will not 
— wills nothing, has no inclination, or tendency, to burn. 

Take another example. Here is a steel needle. I hold 
it before you. You say, " if I let go of it, it will fall," and 
you say correctly, for it has such a tendency. But suppose 
a magnet, as great as that which is said to have drawn the 
iron coffin of Mohammed to the roof of the temple at Mec- 
ca, should be placed in the room above us. The needle, 
instead of falling to the floor, would be drawn in the nearest 



FUTURE TENSE. HOW FORMED. 203 

direction to that magnet. The will or tendency of the 
needle, as generally understood, would be overcome, the 
natural law of gravitation would lose its influence, by the 
counteracting power of the loadstone. 

I say, " I will go home in an hour." But does that ex- 
pression indicate the act o^ going 1 It is placed in the indie- 
ative mood in our grammars ; and go is the principal^ and 
will the auxihary verb. May be I shall fall and die before 
I reach my home. But the expression is correct ; will is 
present, go future. I will, I now resolve, am now inclined 
to go home. 

You see the correctness of our position, that we can not 
positively assert a future active in the indicative mood. 
Try and form to yourselves a phrase by which it can be 
done. Should you succeed, you would violate a law of na- 
ture. You would penetrate the dark curtain of the future, 
and claim to yourself what you do not possess, a power to 
declare future actions. Prophets, by the help of the Al- 
mighty, had this power conferred upon them. But in the 
revelation of the sublime truths they were instructed to 
make known, they were compelled to adopt human lan- 
guage, and make it agree with our manner of speech. 

The only method by which we express a future event, is 
to make an assertion in the indicative mood, present tense, 
and to that append the natural consequence in the infinitive 
or unlimited ; as, I am io go to Boston. He is preparing to 
visit New-York. The infinitive mood is always future to 
the circumstance on which it depends. 

Mr. Murray says, that " tense, being the distinction of 
time, might seem to admit of only the present, past, and fu- 
ture ; but to mark it more accurately, it Js made to consist 
of six variations, viz. : the present, imperfect, perfect, plu- 



204 ON VERBS. 

perfect, first and second future tenses." This more accurate 
mark^ only serves to expose the author's folly, and distract 
the learner's naind. Before, all was plain. The past, pre- 
sent, and future are distinct, natural divisions, easily under- 
stood by all. But what idea can a person form of an im- 
perfect tense in action. If there was ever such an action in 
the world, it was when grammarians made their grammars, 
which is, if I mistake not, according to their own authority, 
in the im-perfect tense! I wrote a letter. He read his 
piece well. The scholar learnec? and recited his lesson 
perfectly ; and yet learned, tho made perfect by the qualifi- 
fication of an adverh, is an imperfect action ! 

But this explains the whole mystery in the business of 
grammar. We can here discover the cause of all the 
troubles and difficulties we have encountered in the whole 
affair. When authors made their books, they did it imper- 
fectly ; when teachers taught them, it was imperfectly ; and 
when scholars learned them, it was imperfectly ! ! So at 
last, we have found the origin of this whole difficulty, in the 
grammars themselves ; it was all imperfectly done. 

But here, again, mirabile dictu! wonderful to tell, we are 
presented with a plu-perfect tense ;^ that isf— plus means 
more, — a more than perfect tense ! What must that be ? If 
a thing is perfect, we can not easily conceive any thing be- 
yond. That is a ne plus ultra to all advancement — there 
can be no more beyond* If any change is introduced, it 
must be by falling from perfect back to imperfect. 

I have said, "many of the distinctions in the grammar 
books have proved mischievous ; that they are as false as 
frivolous ;" and this is said perfectly, in the perfect tense. 
If I should say, <'they had been of some benefit," that would 
be more than perfect — plu-perfect. But when I say, " they 



TENSE. — SECOND FUTURE. 205 

exhibited great depth of research, and conveyed some light 
on the subject of which they treated" it would all be m- 
perfect. 

Next, we are presented with a second future tense, which 
attempts a division of time unbounded and unknown. In 
the greek, they have what is called a "pauIo post future," 
which in plain english, means a " little after the future ;" 
that is, I suppose, when futurity has come to an end, this 
tense will commence ! At that time we may expect to 
meet a ^^prcBter plus quam perfectum" — a more than perfect 
tense ! But till that period shall arrive, we see little need 
of making such false and unphilosophic distinctions. 

A teacher once told me that he explained the distinctions 
of time to his scholars from the clock dial which stood in 
the school room. Suppose twelve o'clock represents the 
present tense ; nine would signify the perfect ; any thing 
between nine and twelve would be imperfect ; any thing 
beyond, pluperfect. On the other hand, any act, forward of 
twelve, would be future ; and at three the second future 
would commence. I remarked that I thought this a won- 
derful improvement, especially to those who were able to 
have clocks by which to teach grammar, but that I could 
not discover why he did not have three future, as well as 
three past tenses. Why, he said, there were no such tenses 
marked in the books, and hence there was no occasion to 
expiam tneiii. ^ asked him why he did not have a tense 
for every hour, and so he could distmguiis.. with Mr. Web- 
ster, twelve tenses, without any trouble whatever ; and, by 
going three times round the dial, he could easily prove the 
correctness of Dr. Beattie's division ; for he says, in his 
grammar, there are thirty-six tenses, and thinks there can 
not be less without " introducing confusion in the grammat- 



206 ON VERBS. 

ical art." But he thought such a course would serve rather 
to perplex than enlighten ; and so thought I. But he was 

the teacher of a popular school in the city of , and 

had published a duodecimo grammar of over 300 pages, 

entitled " Murray's Grammar, improved, by ." I 

will not give his name ; it would be libellous ! 

Mr. Murray thinks because certain things which he as- 
serts, but does not prove, are found in greek and latin, " we 
may doubtless apply them to the english verb ; and extend 
the principle as far as convenience, and the idiom of our 
language require." He found it to his " convenience" to 
note six principal, and as many indefinite tenses. Mr. Web- 
ster does the same. Dr. Beattie found it " convenient" to 
have thirty-six. In the greek they have nine, Mr. Bauzee 
distinguishes in the french twenty tenses ; and the royal 
academy of Spain present a very learned and elaborate 
treatise on seven future tenses in that language. The clock 
dial of my friend would be found quite " convenienf^ in aid- 
ing the "convenience" of such distinctions. 

The fact is, there are only three real divisions of time in 
any language, because there are only three in nature, and 
the ideas of all nations must agree in this respect. In fram- 
ing language it was found impossible to mark any other 
distinctions, without introducing other words than those which 
express simple action. These words became compounded 
in process of time, till they are now used as changes of the 
same verb. I would here enter into an examination of the 
formation of the tenses of greek, latin, french, Spanish, and 
german verbs, did I conceive it necessary, and show you 
how, by compounding two words, they form the various 
tenses found in the grammars. But it will be more edify- 
ing to you to confine my remarks to our own language. 



AUXILIARY VEBBS. 207 

Here it will be found impossible to distinguish more than 
three tenses, or find the verb in any different form, except 
by the aid of other words, wholly foreign from those that 
express the action under consideration. 

It is by the aid of auxiliary verbs that the perfect, plu- 
perfect, or future tenses are formed. But when it is shown 
you that these are principal verbs, and like many other 
words, are used before the infinitive mood without the word 
to prefixed to them, you will perceive the consistency of 
the plan we propose. That such is the fact we have abun- 
dant evidence to show, and with your consent we will intro- 
duce it in this place. I repeat, all the words long consid- 
ered auxiliaries, are principal verbs, declarative of positive 
action, and as such are in extensive use in our language. 
We can hardly agree that the words will, shall, may, must, 
can, could, would, should, etc. have no meaning, as our 
grai-imars and dictionaries would teach us ; for you may 
look in vain for a definition of them, as principal verbs, 
with a few exceptions. 

The reason these words are not found in the same rela- 
tion to other words, with a to after them, is because they 
are so often used that we are accustomed to drop that word. 
The same may be said of all small words in frequent use ; 
as, hid, do, dare, feel, hear, have, let, make, see, and some- 
times need^, tell, and a few others. Bid him go. I dare 
say so. I feel it move. We hear him sing. Let us go. 
Make him do it. He must go thro Samaria. Tell hira do 
it immediately. 

It is a singular fact, but in keeping with neuter verb sys- 
tems, that all the neuter verbs as well as the active, take 
these auxiliary or helping verbs, which, according to their 



208 ON VERBS. 

showing help them do nothing — " express neither actionn or 
passion." A wonderful help indeed ! 

Will. This verb signifies to wish, to resolve, to exercise 
volition, in reference to a certain thing or action. " I will 
go." I now resolve to perform the act of going. When 
applied to inanimate things incapable of volition, it signifies 
what is analogous to it, inherent tendency ; as, paper will 
burn; iron will sink; water will run. All these things 
have an inherent or active tendency to change. Water is 
composed of minute particles of a round form, piled togeth- 
er. While on a level they do not move ; but let a descent 
be made, and these particles, under the influence of gravi- 
tation, will change position, and roll one over another with 
a rapidity equalled to the condition in which they are 
placed. The same may be observed in a quantity of shot 
opened at one side which will run thro the aperture ; but 
the particles being larger, they will not find a level like 
water. Grain, sand, and any thing composed of small par- 
ticles, will exhibit the same tendency. Iron, lead, or any 
mineral, in a state of igneous solution, will run, has the 
same inclination to run as water, or any other liquid. In 
oil, tallow, and lard, when expanded by heat, the same ten- 
dency is observed ; but severely chilled with the cold, it con- 
geals, and will not, has no such tendency, to run. 

You have doubtless observed a cask filled with water 
and nearly tight, (if it is possible, make it quite so,) and 
when an aperture is made in the side, it will run but a trifle 
before it will stop. Open a vent upon the top of the cask 
and it will run freely. T\{\s will or tendency was counter- 
acted by other means which I will not stop here to explain. 

This is a most important word in science, physical and 



AUXILIARY VERBS. — WILL. 209 

moral, and may be traced thro various languages where it 
exerts the same influence in the expression of thought. 

" To avoid multiplying of words, I would crave leave 
here, under the word action, to comprehend iheforhearance 
too of any action proposed ; sitting still, or holding one's 
peace, when walking or speaking are proposed, tho mere 
forbearances, requiring as much the determination of the 
will, and being as often weighty in their consequences as 
the contrary actions, may, on that consideration, well enough 
pass for actions too. For he that shall turn his thoughts 
inwards upon what passes in his mind when he wills, shall 
see that the icill or power of volition is conversant about 
nothing." — Locke's Essay, b. II. c. 21. § 30. 

It is correctly applied by writers to matter as well as 
mind, as may be seen by consulting their works. 

** Meanwhile as nature wills^ night bids us rest." — Milton. 

The lupulis, or common hop, feels for some elevated ob- 
ject which will assist it in its high aspirations, and will 
climb it by winding from left to right, and tcill not be 
obliged to go in an opposite direction ; while the phaseolus, 
or kidney bean, takes the opposite direction. Neither icill 
be compelled to change its course. They will have their 
own way, and grow as they please, or they toill die in the 
contest for liberty. 

Arsenic has a tendency in itself, a latent power, which 
only requires an opportunity suited to its objects, when it 
will act in the most efficacious manner. It mil destroy the 
life of the Emperor, who has voluntarily slain his thousand 
and tens of thousands. This secret power does not reside 
in the flour of wheat, for that will not, has no tendency, to 
produce such disastrous consequences. 

R* 



210 ON VERBS. 

This word is applied in a similar manner to individuals 
and nations. The man will fall, not of intention, but of ac- 
cident. He will kill himself. The man will drown, and 
the boat will swim. The water will hold up the boat, but 
it will allow the man to sink. The Russians will conquer 
the Turks. If conquest depended solely on the willf the 
Turks would as soon conquer as the Russians. But I have 
not time to pursue this topic farther. You can follow out 
these hints at your leisure. 

Shall signifies to be hound, obligated, or required, from 
external necessity. Its etymology may be traced back 
thro various languages. It is derived direct from the saxon 
scaelan or scylan, and is found as a principal verb in that 
language, as well as in ours. In the church homily they 
say, " To Him alone we schall us to devote ourselves ;" we 
hind or obligate ourselves. Chaucer, an early english poet, 



" The faith we shall to God." 

Great difficulty has been found in distinguishing between 
shall and will, and frequent essays have been written, to 
give arbitrary rules for their use. If the words were well 
understood, there could be no difficulty in employing them 
correctly. Will signifies inherent tendency, aptitude, or 
disposition, and volition in beings capable of using it. Shall 
implies external necessity, or foreign obligation. The parent 
says, "You will suffer misery if you do evil," for it is in 
accordance with the nature of things for evil to produce 
misery. "You shall regm-A my wishes," for you are under 
ohligation, from the relation in which you stand to me, to 
do so. Let these words be clearly explained, and there 
will be no difficulty in using them correctly. 



MAY. MUST. GAN. 211 

Mav, past tense might. This verb expresses power, 
strength, or ability to perform an action. It is a mistake 
that it means permission or liberty only. It implies more 
than that, the delegation of a power to perform the contem- 
plated action. Suppose the scholar should faint, would the 
teacher say to him you may go into the open air ? He has 
no power, might, or strength, communicated by such liberty, 
and must receive the might or strength of others to carry 
him out. But to the scholar in health he says you may go 
out, thereby giving to him a power and liberty sufficient to 
perform the action. This is done on the same principle 
that one man gives another a ^^ power of attorney" to trans- 
act his business ; and that power constitutes his liberty of 
action. 

Must signifies to be confined, limited, bound, or restrained. 
I must, or am bound, to obey ; certain obligations require 
me to obey. The adjective of this word is in common use. 
The air in the cask is musty. It has long been bound or 
confined there, and prevented from partaking of the purify- 
ing qualities of the atmosphere, and hence has become 



Can. This word is found as a principal verb and as a 
noun in our language, especially in the Scotch dialect. " I 
ken nae where he'd gone." Beyond the ken of mortals. 
Far from all human ken. It signifies to know, to perceive, 
to understand. I knew not where he had gone. Beyond 
the knowledge of mortals. Far from all human reach. 
To con or cun is a different spelling of the same word. 
Cunning is that ({mok perception of things, which enables a 
person to use his knowledge adroitly. The child can 
read ; knows how to read. It can walk. Here it seems 
to imply power ; but power, in this case, as in most others. 



212 ON VERBS. 

is gained only by knowledge, for knowledge is power. 
Many children have strength sufficient to walk, long before 
they do. The reason why they can not walk, is, they do 
r\o\. know how; they have not learned to balance them- 
selves in an erect position, so as to move forward without 
falling. 

A vast proportion of human ability is derived from knowl- 
edge. There is not a being in creation so entirely incapa- 
ble of self-support, as the new-born infant ; and yet, by the 
help of knowledge, he becomes the lord of this lower world. 
Bonaparte was once as helpless as any other child, and yet 
by dint of can, ken, cunning, or knowledge, he made all 
Europe tremble. But his knowledge was limited. He be- 
came blind to danger, bewildered by success, and he could 
no longer follow the prudent course of wisdom, but fell a 
sacrifice to his own unbridled ambition, and blinded folly. 
An enlightened people can govern themselves ; but power 
of government is gained by a knowledge of the principles 
of equality, and mutual help and dependency ; and when- 
ever the people become ignorant of that fact, they will fall, 
the degraded victims of their own folly, and the wily influ- 
ence of some more knowing aspirant for power. 

This is a most important topic ; but I dare not pursue it 
farther, lest I weary your patience. A few examples must 
suffice. 

"Jason, she cried, for aught 1 see or cari^ 
This deed," &c. — Chaucer. 

A famous man, 
Of eveiy witte somewhat he can, 
Out take that him lacketh rule, 
His own estate to guide and rule. — Gower. 



DO. — HAVE. 213 

Do has been called a helping verb ; but it needs little ob- 
servation to discover that it is no more so than a hundred 
other words. "Do thy diligence to come before winter." 
'•Do the work of an evangelist." — Paul to Timothy. I do 
all in my power to expose the error and wickedness of false 
teaching. Do afford relief. Do something to afford relief. 

Have has also been reckoned as an auxiliary by the 
" helping verb grammars," which has no other duty to 
perform than help conjugate other verbs thro some of their 
moods and tenses. It is a word in very common use, and 
of course must possess a very important character, which 
should be carefully examined and distinctly known by all 
who desire a knowledge of the construction of our language. 

The principal difficulty in the explanation of this word, 
is the peculiar meaning which some have attached to it. It 
has been defined to denote possession merely. But when 
we say, a man has much property destroyed by fire, we do 
not mean that he gains or possesses much property by the 
fire ; nor can we make has auxiliary to destroyed, for in 
that case it would stand thus : a man has destroyed much 
property by fire, which would be false, for the destruction 
was produced by an incendiary, or some other means wholly 
unknown to him. 

You at once perceive that to possess is not the only mean- 
ing which attaches to have. It assumes a more important 
rank. It can be traced, with little change in form, back 
thro many generations. It is the same word as heave, 
originally, and retains nearly the same meaning. Saxon 
habban, Gothic haban, German haben, Latin habeo, French 
avoir, are all the same word, varied in spelling more than 
in sound ; for b in many languages is sounded very much 
like V, or bv. It may mean to hold, possess, retain, sway, 



214 ON VERBS. 

control, dispose of, either as a direct or relative action ; for 
a man sustains relations to his actors, duties, family, friends, 
enemies, and all the world, as well as to his possessions. 
He has a hard task to perform. He has much pain to suf- 
fer. He has suffered much unhappiness. 

I have written a letter. I have a written letter. I have 
a letter written. These expressions differ very little in 
meaning, but the verb have is the same in each case. By 
the first expression, I signify that I have caused the letter to 
be written ; by the second that I have a letter on which 
such action has been performed ; and by the third, that such 
written letter stands in such relation to myself. 

I have written a letter and sent it away. Written is the 
past participle from write; as an adjective it describes the 
letter in the condition I placed it; so that it will be defined, 
wherever it is found, as my letter ; that is, some way related 
to me. 

We can here account for the old perfect tense, which is 
said, " not only to refer to what is past, but also to convey 
an allusion to the present time.^^ The verb is in the present 
tense, the participle is in the past, and hence the reason of 
this allusion. I have no space allowed me to go into a full 
investigation of this word, in its application to the expression 
of ideas. But it is necessary to have it well understood, as 
it has an important service entrusted to it ; and I hope you 
will have clear views presented to your minds, strong enough 
to have former errors eradicated thefefrom. 

If you have leisure granted, and patience and disposition 
equal-e^ to the task, you have my consent to go back and 
read this sentence over again. You will find it has in it 
embodied much important information in relation to the use 
of have and the perfect tense* 



LECTURE XIII. 



ON VERBS. 



Person and number in the agent, not in the action. — Similarity of 
agents, actions, and objects. — Verbs made from nouns. — Irregu- 
lar verbs. — Some examples. — Regular Verbs. — Ed. — Ing. — Con- 
jugation of verbs. — To love. — To have. — To be. — The indicative 
mood varied. — A whole sentence may be agent or object. — Im- 
perative mood. — Infinitive mood. — Is always future. 



I HAVE said before that action can never be known sep. 
arate from the actor ; that the verb applies to the agent in 
an acting condition, as that term has been defined and should 
be understood. Hence Person and Number can never at- 
tach to the verb, but to the agent with which, of course, the 
action must, in every respect, agree; as, " I write.^^ In 
this case the action corresponds with myself. But to say 
that tcriie is in the " first person, singular number," would 
be wrong, for no such number or person belongs to the 
verb, but is confined to myself as the agent of the action. 

The form of the verb is changed when it agrees with the 
second or third person singular ; more on account of habit, 
I apprehend, than from any reason, or propriety as to a 
change of meaning in the word. We say, when using the 
regular second person singular, " thou writest" a form rare- 
ly observed except in addresses to Deity, or on solemn oc- 
casions. In the third person, an s is added to the regular 
form ; as, " he lorites.^^ The old form, which was in gen- 



216 ON VERBS. 

eral use at the time the common version of the Bible was 
published, was still different, ending in eih ; as, he thinkeihi 
lie writeih. This style, altho considerably used in the last 
century, is nearly obsolete. When the verb agrees with 
the plural number it is usually the same as when it agrees 
with the first person ; as, " We write, you write, they write, ^^ 
There are few exceptions to these rules. 

Some people have been very tenacious about retaining 
the old forms of words, and our books were long printed 
without alteration ; but change will break thro every bar- 
rier, and book-makers must keep pace with the times, and 
put on the dress that is catered for them by the public taste ; 
bearing in mind, meanwhile, that great and practical truths 
are more essential than the garb in which they appear. 
We should be more careful of our health of body and purity 
of morals than of the costume we put on. Many genteel 
coats wrap up corrupt hearts, and fine hats cover silly 
heads. What is the chaff* to the wheat ? 

Even our good friends, the quakers, who have particu- 
larly labored to retain old forms — " the plain language," — 
have failed in their attempt, and have substituted the object 
form of the pronoun for the agent, and say, " thee thinks," 
for thou thinkest. Their mistake is even greater than the 
substitution of you for thou. 

So far as language depends on the conventional regula- 
tion of those who use it, it will be constantly changing ; 
new words will be introduced, and the spelling of old ones 
altered, so as to agree with modern pronounciation. We 
have all lived long enough to witness the truth of this re- 
mark. The only rule we can give in relation to this mat- 
ter is, to follow our own judgments, aided by our best writ- 
ers and speakers. 



ACTORS, ACTIONS, OBJECTS. 



217 



The words which express action, are in many cases very 
similar to the agents which produce them ; and the objects 
which are the direct results produced by such action, do 
not differ very materially. I will give you a few examples. 



Agent. 


Verb. 


Object. 


Actors 


Act 


Actions 


Breathers 


Breathe 


Breath 


Builders 


Build 


Buildings 


Coiners 


Coin 


Coins 


Casters 


Cast 


Casts or castings 


Drinkers 


Drink 


Drink 


Dreamers 


Dream 


Dreams 


Earners 


Earn 


Earnings 


Fishers 


Fish 


Fishes 


Gainers 


Gain 


Gain 


Hewers 


Hew 


Hewings 


Innkeepers 


Keep 


Inns 


Light or lighters 


Light or shed 


Lights 


Miners 


Mine or dig 


Mines 


Pleaders 


Plead or make 


Pleas 


Producers 


Produce 


Products 


Raisers 


Raise 


Raisings or houses 


Runners or racers Run 


Runs or races 


Sufferers 


Suffer 


Sufferings 


Speakers 


Speak 


Speeches 


Thinkers 


Think 


Thoughts 


Writers 


Write 


Writings 


Workers 


Work 


Works 



I give you these examples to show you the near alliance 
between actors, ( ,) and actions ; or agents, actions, and ob- 
jects. Such expressions as the above are inelegant, because 



218 



ON VERBS. 



they are uncommon ; but for no other reason, for we, in 
numberless cases, employ the sanie word for agent and 
verb ; as, painters paint buildings, and artists paint paintings; 
hooTchinders hind hooks; printers print books, and other 
prints, A little observation will enable you to carry out 
these hints, and profit by them. You have observed the 
disposition in children, and foreigners, who are partially 
acquainted with our language, to make verbs out of almost 
every noun, which appears to us very aukward ; but was 
it common, it would be just as correct as the verbs now 
used. There are very few verbs which have not a noun 
to correspond with them, for we make verbs, that is, we 
use words to express action, which are nearly allied to the 
agent with which such action agrees.* From botany we 

* The same fact may be observed in other languages, for all peo- 
ple form language alike, in a way to correspond with their ideas. 
The following hasty examples will illustrate this point. 





Agent. 


Verb. 


Object. 


English 


Singers 


Sing 


Songs 


French 


Les chanteurs 


Chantent 


Les chansons 


Spanish 


Los cantores 


Cantan 


Las cantinelas 


Italian 


I cantori 


Cantano 


I canti 


Latin 


Cantores 


Canunt 


Cantus 


English 


Givers 


Give 


Gifts 


French 


Les donneur^ 


Donnent 


Les dons 


Spanish 


Los donadores 


Dan o donan 


Los dones 


Italian 


I danalori 


Dano o danano 


I doni 


Latin 


Datores 


Donant 


Dona 


English 


Fishers 


Fish^ 


Fishes 


French 


Les pecheurs 


Pechent 


Les poissons 


Spanish 


Los Pescadores 


Pescan 


Los peces 


Italian 


I pescatori 


Pescan 


I pesci 


Latin 


Piscalores 


Piscantur 


Pisces 


English 


Students 


Study 


Studies 


French 


Les etudiens 


Ktudient 


Les etudes 


Spanish 


Los estudiantes 


Estndian 


Los estudios 


Italian 


I studienti 


Studiano 


I studii 


Latin 


Studiosi 


Student 


Studia 



FORMATION AND CHANGES OF WORDS. 219 

have made botanize ; from Mr. McAdam, the inventor of a 
particular kind of road, macadamize, which means to make 
roads as he made them. Words are formed in this way 
very frequently. The word church is often used as a noun 
to express a building used for public worship ; for the ser- 
vices performed in it ; for the whole congregation ; for a 
portion of believers associated together ; for the Episcopal 
order, etc. It is also used as a verb. Mr. Webster de- 
fines it, " To perform with any one the office of returning 
thanks in the church after any signal deliverance." But 
the word has taken quite a different turn of late. To church 
a person, instead of receiving him into communion, as that 
term would seem to imply, signifies to deal with an offend- 
ing member, to excommunicate, or turn him out. 

But I will not pursue this point any farther. The brief 
hints I have thrown out, will enable you to discover how the 
mea;Jng and forms of words are changed from their origin 
nal application to suit the notions and improvements of after 
ages. A field is here presented which needs cultivation. 
The young should be taught to search for the etymology 
of words, to trace their changes and meaning as used at 
different times and by different people, keeping their minda 
constantly directed to the object signified by such verbal 
sign. This is the business of philosophy, under whatever 
name it may be taught ; for grammar, rhetoric, logic, and 
the science of the mind, are intimately blended, and should 
always be taught in connexion. We have already seen 
that words without meaning are like shadows without real- 
ities. And persons can not employ language " correctly," 
or " with propriety," till they have acquainted themselves 
with the import of such language — the ideas of things 



220 ON VERBS. 

signified by it. Let this course be adopted in the edu- 
cation of children, and they will not be required to spend 
months and years in the study of an " rtri" which they can 
not coniprehend, for the simple reason that they can not 
apply it in practice. Grammar has been taught as a mere 
art, depending on arbitrary rules to be mechanically learned, 
rather than a science involving the soundest and plainest 
principles of philosophy, which are to be known only as 
developed in common practice among men, and in accord- 
ance with the permanent laws which govern human thought. 
Verbs differ in the manner of forming their past tenses, 
and participles, or adjectives. Those ending in ed are 
called regular ; those which take any other termination are 
irregular. There are about two hundred of the latter in 
our language, which differ in various ways. Some of them 
have the past tense and the past participle the same ; as, 



Bid 


Bid 


Bid 


Knit 


Knit 


Knit 


Shut 


Shut 


Shut 


Let 


Let 


Let 


Spread 


Spread 


Spread, etc. 



Others have the past tense and participle alike, but dif- 
ferent from the present ; as, 

Lend Lent Lent 

Send Sent Sent 

Bend Bent Bent 

Wend Went Went 

Build Built or builded Built 

Think Thought Thought, etc. 



EXAMPLES OF IRREGULAR VERBS. 



221 



Some have the present and past tense and participle dif- 



ferent ; as, 






Blow 


Blew 


Blown 


Grow 


Grew 


Grown 


Begin 


Began 


Begun 


See 


Saw 


Seen 


Write 


Wrote 


Written 


Give 


Gave 


Given 


Speak 


Spoke 


Spoken 


Rise 


Rose 


Risen 


Fall 


Fell 


Fallen, etc, 



There are a few which are made up of different radicals, 
which have been wedded together by habit, to avoid the 
frequent and unpleasant recurrence of the same word ; as. 
Am Was Been 

Go (wend) Went Gone, etc. 

Some which were formerly irregular, are now generally 
used with the regular termination, in either the past tense 
or participle, or both ; as. 

Hang Hung or hanged Hung or hanged 

Dare Dared or durst Dared 

Clothe Clad or clothed Clad or clothed 

Work Worked or wrought Worked 

Shine Shined or shone Shone or shined 

Spill Spilled or spilt Spilt or spilled, etc. 

The syllable ed is a contraction of the past tense of do ; 
as, I loved, love did^ did love, or love-erf. He learned, 
learn did, did learn, or learned. It signifies action, did, 
done, or accomplished. You have all lived long enough to 



222 ON VERBS. 

have noticed the change in the pronounciation of this sylla- 
ble. Old people sound it full and distinct ; and so do most 
others in reading the scriptures ; but not so generally as in 
former times. In poetry it was usually abbreviated so as 
to avoid the full sound ; and hence we may account for the 
irregular termination of many words, such as heard^ for 
heared ; past, for passed ; learnt, for learned ; built, for 
builded. In modern poetry, however, the e is retained, tho 
sounded no more than formerly. 

Ing is derived from the verb to he, and signifies being, 
existing ; and, attached to a verb, is used as a noun, or ad- 
jective, retaining so much of its former character as to 
have an object after it which is aifected by it ; as, " I am 
writing a lecture." Here writing, the present participle of 
write, describes myself in my present employment, and yet 
retains its action as a verb, and terminates on lecture as the 
thing written. " The man was taken in the act of stealing 
some money." In this case stealing names the action which 
the man was performing when detected, which action thus 
named, has money for the object on which it terminates. 

I barely allude to this subject in this place to give you 
an idea of the method we adopt to explain the meaning and 
use of participles. It deserves more attention, perhaps, to 
make it plain to your minds ; but as it is not an essential 
feature in the new system, I shall leave it for consideration 
in a future work. Whoever is acquainted with the forma- 
tion of the present participle in other languages, can carry 
out the suggestions I have made, and fully comprehend my 
meaning. 

I will present you with an example of the conjugations 
of a few verbs which you are requested to compare with 
the " might could would should have been loved*^ systems, 



CONJUGATION OF VERBS- 



223 



which you were required to learn in former times. You 
will find the verb in every form or position in which it ever 
occurs in our language, written or spoken. 

Conjugation of the regular verb to love. 



Present tense 



Past tense 



INDICATIVE MOOD. 

Singular 

I love 

Thou lovest 

He, she, or it loves 

I loved 

Thou lovedst 

He, she, or it loved 

IMPERATIVE MOOD. 
Love. 

INFINITIVE MOOD. 

To love. 



Plural 
We love 
You love 
They love 
We loved 
You loved 
They loved 



PARTICIPLES. 

Present, Loving Past, Loved 



The irregular verb to have, is thus conjugated. 



Present tense 



Past tense 



INDICATIVE MOOD, 
I have 
Thou hast 
He has 
I had 

Thou hadst 
He had 



We have 
You have 
They have 
We had 
You had 
They had 



224 ON VERBS. 

IMPERATIVE MOOD, 

Have, 

INFINITIVE MOOD, 
To have. 

PARTICIPLES. 

Present, Having Past, Had 

The irregular verb to be, stands thus : 
INDICATIVE MOOD. 





I am We are 


Present tense 


Thou art You are 




He is They are 




I was We were 


Past tense 


Thou wast You were 




He was They were 




IMPERATIVE MOOD. 




Be. 




INFINITIVE MOOD. 




To be. 




PARTICIPLES. 


Present 


, Being Past^ Been 



These examples will suffice to give you an idea of the 
ease and simplicity of the construction of verbs, and by a 
comparison with old systems, you can, for yourselves, de> 
termine the superiority of the principles we advocate. The 
above tabular views present every form which the verb as- 
sumes, and every position in which it is found. In use» 



INDICATIVE MOOD. 225 

these words are frequently compounded together ;* but with 
a knowledge of the above principles, and the meaning of 
the words — a most essential consideration — you will always 
be able to analyze any sentence, and parse it correctly. I 
have not time to enlarge on this point, to show how words 
are connected together. Nor do I think it necessary to 
enable you to understand my views. To children such a 
work would be indispensable, and shall be attended to if we 
are able to publish a grammar containing the simple prin- 
ciples of language. 

The indicative mood is varied four ways. 1st, affirma- 
tively, he writes; 2d, negatively, he writes not; 3d, inter- 
rogatively, does he write? or writes he? 4th, suppositively, 
if he writes, suppose he icrites, allow he writes. 

The first is a simple affirmation of a fact, and is easily 
understood. The second is formed by annexing a term to 
express negation. Not is a contraction from nought or 
naught, which is a compound of ne, negative, and ought or 
aught, ne-aught, meaning no-thing. He lorites not; he 
writes nothing. * He does not write ; he does nothing to 
write. Neither is a compound of ne and either, not either. 
He can not read ; he can, kens, knows nothing, has no 
abilitv to read. 



* Mr. Murray says, " These compounds," have, shall, will, may, 
can, must, had, might, could, would, and should, which he uses as 
auxiliaries to help conjugate other verbs, " are, however, to be con- 
sidered as different forms of the same verb." I should like to know, 
if these words have any thing to do with the principal verbs ; if they 
only alter the form of the verb which follows them. I may, can, 
must, shall, leill, or do love. Are these only different; forms of 
love ? or rather, are they not distinct, important, and original verbs, 
pure and perfect in and of themselves ? Ask for their etymons and 
meanincr, and then decide. 



226 ON VERBS. 

The third is constructed into a question by placing the 
verb before the agent, or by prefixing another word before 
the agent, and then placing the fornner verb as an infinitive 
after it ; as, Does he write ? or writes he ? When another 
verb is prefixed, one is always chosen which will best de- 
cide the query. Does he any thing to wTite? Does he 
make any nnotions or show any indications to write ? When 
the will or disposition of a person is conceined, we choose 
a word accordingly. Will he write ? Has he the will or 
disposition to write ? Can he write ? Is he able — knoms 
he how to write? A little observation will enable you to 
understand my meaning. 

In the fourth place, a supposition is made in the impera- 
tive mood, in accordance with which the action is performed. 
*< If ye love me, keep my commandments." Gi'ye, grant, 
allow, suppose this fact — you love me, keep my command- 
ments. I will go if I can. I resolve, will, or determine to 
go» iff gifi gi'^^1 grant, allow this fact, I can, hen, know 
how, or am able to go. But more on this point when we 
come to the consideration of contractions. 

In this mood the verb must have an agent and object, 
expressed or implied ; as, ^^ farmers cultivate the soilJ'^ 
But a whole sentence, that is, an idea written out, may per- 
form this duty ; as, ^* The study of grammar, on false prin- 
ciples, is productive of no good." What is productive of no 
good ? What is the agent o^is 1 " The study," our books 
and teachers tell us. But does such a construction give 
the true meaning of the sentence ? I think not, for study is 
indispensable to knowledge and usefulness, and the study 
of grammar, properly directed, is a most useful branch of 
literature, which should never be dispensed with. It is the 
study of grammar on false principles, which is productive 



A SENTENCE MAY BE AGENT OR OBJECT. 227 

of no good. You discover my meaning, and will not ques- 
tion its correctness. You must also see how erroneous it 
would be to teach children that " to study is productive of 
no good." The force of the sentence rests on the " false 
principles" taught. Hence the whole statement is truly the 
agent of the verb. 

The object on which the action terminates is frequently 
expressed in a similar manner ; as, " He w^rote to me, that 
he will adopt the new system of grammar, if he can pro- 
cure some books to give his scholars to learn." Will you 
parse wrote 7 Most grammarians will call it an intransitive 
verb, and make out that " he wrote" nothing to me, because 
there is no regular objective word after it. Will you parse 
that ? It is a " conjunction copulative.^^ What does it con- 
nect ? ** He wrote" to the following sentence, according to 
Rule 18 of Mr. Murray; "conjunctions connect the same 
moods and tenses of verbs and cases of nouns and pro- 
nouns." Unluckily you have two different tenses connect- 
ed in this case. W^ill you parse if? It is a copulative con- 
junction, connecting the two members of the sentence — he 
will adopt if he can procure : Rule, as above. How ex- 
ceeding unfortunate ! You have two different moods, and 
two different tenses, connected by a copulative conjunction 
which the rule says " connects the same moods and lenses ! 
What nonsense ! What a falsehood ! What a fine thing 
to be a grammarian ! And yet, I venture the opinion, and 
I judge from what I have seen in myself and others, there 
is not one teacher in a hundred who will not learn children 
to parse as above, and apply the same rule to it. " I idll 
go if I can." « I do and tmll contend." " As it was in the 
beginning, is now, and ever sJiall be." " I am here and must 
remain." " He will do your business if he his time." " I 



228 



ON VERBS. 



am resolved to expose the errors of grammar, and will do it 
thoroly if\ can.^'' 

In these examples you have different moods and tenses, 
indiscriminately, yet correctly coupled together, despite the 
rules of syntax which teach us to explain language « with 
propriety." 

That, in the sentence before us, is an adjective, referring 
to the following sentence, which is the ohject of wrote, or is 
the thing written. " He wrote to me thaf^ fact, sentiment, 
opinion, determination, or resolution, that writing, letter, or 
word — " he will adopt the new system of grammar, if he 
can procure some books." 

This subject properly belongs to that department of Ian- 
guage called syntax ; but as I shall not be able to treat of 
that in this course of lectures, I throw in here these brief 
remarks to give you some general ideas of the arrangement 
of words into sentences, according to their true meaning, as 
obtained from a knowledge of their etymology. You can- 
not fail to observe this method of constructing language if 
you will pay a little attention to it when reading ; keeping 
all the time in view the jEfict that words are only the signs 
of ideas, derived from an observation of things. You all 
know that it is not merely the steam that propels the boat, 
but that it is steam applied to machinery. Steam is the 
more latent cause ; and the engine with its complicated 
parts is the direct means. In the absence of either, the boat 
would not be propelled. In the formation of language, I 
may say correctly, " Solomon huilt the temple ;" for he 
stood in that relation to the matter which supposes it would 
not have been built without his direction and command. 
To accomplish such an action, however, he need not raise 
a hammer or a gavel, or draw a line on the trestle board. 



IMPERATIVE MOOD. 



229 



His command made known to his ministers was sufficient to 
cause the work to be done. Hence the whole fact is indi. 
cated or declared by the single expression, " Solomon built 
the temple." 

The Imperative mood is unchanged in form. I can say 
to one man, go, or to a thousand, go. The commander 
when drilling one soldier, says, march; and he bids the 
whole battalion, march. The agent who is to perform the 
action is understood when not expressed ; as, go, go thou, 
or go you. The agent is generally omitted, because the ad- 
dress is given direct to the person who is expected to obey 
the instruction, request, or command. This verb always 
agrees with an agent in the second person. And yet our 
" grammars made easy" have given us three persons in this 
mood — " Let me love ; love, love thou, or do thou love ; let 
him love." In the name of common sense, I ask, what can 
children learn by such instruction? " Let me love," in the 
conjugation of the verb to love ! To whom is this command 
given ? To myself of course ! I command myself to " let 
me love /" What nonsense ! " Let him love." I stand 
here, you set there, and the third person is in Philadel- 
phia. I utter these words, " Let him love." What is my 
meaning ? Why, our books tell us, that the verb to love is 
third person. Then I command him to let himself lovef 
What jargon and falsehood ! You all know that we can 
address the second person only. You would call me insane 
if I should employ language according to the rules of gram. 
mar as laid down in the standard books. In my room 
alone, no person near me, I cry out, « let me be quiet'* — im. 
perative mood, first person of to be! Do I command my. 
self to let myself be quiet ? Most certainly, if be is the prin. 
cipal verb in the first person, and let the auxiliary. The 



230 ON VERBS. 

teacher observes one of his pupils take a pencil from a 
classmate who sets near him. He says, " let him have it." 
To whom is the command given? It is the imperative 
mood, third person of the verb to have. Does he command 
the third person, the boy who has not the pencil ? Such is 
the resolution of the sentence, according to the authority of 
standard grammars. But where is there a child five years 
old who does not know better. Every body knows that he 
addresses the second person, the boy who has the pencil, to 
Jet the other have it. 

Teachers have learned their scholars the Jirst and third 
persons of this mood when committing the conjugation of 
verbs ; but not one in ten thousand ever adopted them in 
parsing. "Let me love." Let, all parse, Mr. Murray not 
excepted, in the second person, and love in the infinitive 
mood after it, without the sign to ; according to the rule, 
that " verbs which follow hid, dare, feel, hear, let, needs, 
speak," etc. are in the infinitive mood. It is strange people 
will not eat their own cooking. 

There can be no trouble in understanding this mood, as 
we have explained it, always in the future tense, that is, 
future to the command or request, agreeing with the second 
person, and never varied on account of number. 

The only variation in the infinitive mood is the omission 
of to in certain cases, which is considered as a part of the 
verb ; tho in truth it is no moEe so than when used in the 
character of an old fashioned preposition. In certain cases, 
as we have before observed, it is not expressed. This is 
when the infinitive verb follows small words in frequent use; 
as, shall, will, let, can, must, may, bid, do, have, make, feel, 
hear, etc. 



INFINITIVE MOOD. 231 

This mood is always in the future tense ; that is, it is fu- 
ture to the circumstances or condition of things upon which 
it depends ; as, they are making preparations to raise the 
building. Here to raise is future to the preparations, for if 
they make no preparations, the buildings will not be raised. 
The boy studies his book to learn his lesson. If he does 
not study, he will not be likely to learn his lesson. 

The allied powers of Europe combined their forces to 
defeat Napoleon. In this instance the whole expression is 
in the past tense ; nevertheless, the action expressed in the 
infinitive mood, was future to the circumstance on which it 
depended ; that is, the defeat was future to the combination 
of the forces. Abraham raised the knife to slay his son. 
Not that he did slay him, as that sentence must be explained 
on the common systems, which teach us that to slay is 
in the present tense ; but he raised the fatal knife for that 
pur:>ose, the fulfilment of which was future ; but the angel 
staid his hand, and averted the blow. The patriots of Po- 
land made a noble attempt to gain their liberty. But they 
did not gain it, as our grammars would teach us. To gain 
was future to the attempt, and failed because the circum- 
stances indicated by the event, were insufficient to produce 
so favorable a result. 

No person of common discernment can fail to observe 
the absolute falsehood of existing systems in respect to this 
mood. It is used by our authors of grammar in the present 
and past tenses, but never in the future. Let us give a 
moment to the consideration of this matter. Take the fol- 
lowing example. He will prepare himself next week to go 
to Europe. Let the school master parse will prepare. It 
is a verb, indicative mood, first future tense. Next loeek is 
the point in futurity when the preparation will be made. 



232 ON VERBS, 

Now parse to go. It is a verb, infinitive mood, present 
tense ! Tiien he is already on his way to Europe, when 
he is not to prepare himself till next week ! An army is 
collected to jight the enemy. Is the fight already com- 
menced 1 To Jight is present tense, say the books. We shall 
study grammar next year, to obtain a knowledge of the 
principles and use of language. Is to obtain present tense 1 
If so there is little need of spending time and money to study 
for a knowledge we already possess, 

'• Hope springs eternal in the human breast ; 
Man never is, but always to be blest." — Pope. 

" Who was, and who is, and who is to come." — Bible. It 
is not that a man thinks himself already in possession of a 
sufficiency, but hopes to be qualified, etc. 

I am to go in an hour. He is to go to-morrow. I am 
ready to hear you recite your lesson. He has been waiting 
a long time to see if some new principles will not be intro- 
duced. He is prepared to appear before you whenever you 
shall direct. We are resolved to employ neuter verbs, po- 
tential and subjunctive moods, im-perfect, plu-perfect, and 
second future tenses, no longer. False grammars are only 
at-ted to be laid aside. We are in duty bound to regard 
and adopt truth, and reject error ; and we are determined to 
do it in grammar, and every thing else. 

We are not surprised that people cannot comprehend 
grammar, as usually taught, for it is exceedingly difficult to 
make error appear like truth, or false teaching like sound 
sentiment. But I will not stop to moralize. The hints I 
have given must suffice. 



OBJECT OF THIS WORK. 233 

Much more might be said upon the character and use of 
verbs ; but as these lectures are not designed for a system 
of grammar to he taught, but to expose the errors of existing 
systems, and prepare the way for a more rational and con- 
sistent exposition of language, I shall leave this department 
of our subject, presuming you will be able to comprehend 
our views, and appreciate their importance. We have been 
somewhat critical in a part of our remarks, and more brief 
than we should have been, had we not found that we were 
claiming too much of the time of the Institute, which is de- 
signed as a means of improvement on general subjects. 
Enough has been said, I am sure, to convince you, if you 
were not convinced before, why the study of grammar is 
so intricate and tedious, that it is to be accounted for from 
the fact that the theories by which it is taught are false in 
principle, and can not be adopted in practice; and that 
something ought to be done to make the study of language 
easy, interesting, and practical. Such a work is here at- 
tempted ; but it remains with the public to say whether 
these plain philosophical principles shall be sustained, ma- 
tured, perfected, and adopted in schools, or the old round- 
about course of useless and ineffectual teaching be still 
preserved. 



LECTURE XIV» 
ON CONTRACTIONS, 



A temporary expedient. — Words not understood. — All words must 
have a meaning. — Their formation. — Changes of meaning and 
form. — Should be observed. — Adverbs. — Ending in ly. — Exam- 
ples. — Ago. — Astray. — Awake. — Asleep. — Then, when. — There, 
where, here. — While, till. — Whether, together. — Ever, never, 

whenever, etc. Oft.— Hence.— Perhaps.— Not.— Or.— Nor .— 

Than.— As.— So.— Distinctions false.— Rule 18. If. But.— - 

Tho.— Yet. 



We have concluded our remarks on the necessary divis- 
ions of words. Things named, defined, and described, and 
their actions, relations, and tendencies, have been considered 
under the classes of Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs. To 
these classes all words belong when properly explained ; a 
fact we desire you to bear constantly in mind in all your 
attempts to understand and employ language. But there 
are many words in our language as well as most others, 
which are so altered and disguised that their meaning is not 
easily comprehended. Of course they are difficult of ex- 
planation. These words we have classed under the head 
of Contractions, a term better calculated than any other we 
have seen adopted to express their character. We do not 
however lay any stress on the appropriateness of this ap- 
pellation, but adopt it as a temporary expedient, till these 
words shall be better understood. They will then be ranked 
in their proper places among the classes already noticed. 



WORDS NOT UNDERSTOOD. 235 

Under this head may be considered the words usually 
known as " adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and inter- 
jections." That the etymology and meaning of these words 
have not been generally understood will be conceded, I pre- 
sume, on all hands. In our opinion, that is the only reason 
why they have been considered under these different heads, 
for in numberless cases there is nothing in their import to 
correspond with such distinctions. Why "an adverb ex- 
presses some quality or circumstance respecting a verb, ad- 
jective, or other adverb ;" why " a conjunction is chiefly 
used to connect sentences, so as out of two to make only one 
sentence ;" or why " prepositions serve to connect words 
with one another, and show the relation between them," has 
never been explained. They have been passed over with 
little difficulty by teachers, having baen furnished with lists 
of words in each *' part of speech," which they require their 
pupils to commit to memory, and " for ever after hold 
their peace" concerning them. But that these words have 
been defined or explained in a way to be understood will 
not be pretended. In justification of such ignorance, it is 
contended that such explanation is not essential to their 
proper and elegant use. If such is the fact, we may easily 
account for the incorrect use of language, and exonerate 
children from the labor of studying etymology. 

But these words have meaning, and sustain a most im- 
portant rank in the expression of ideas. They are, gener- 
ally, abbreviated, compounded, and so disguised that their 
origin and formation are not generally known. Home 
Tooke calls them " the wheels of language, the wings of 
Mercury." He says "tho we might be dragged along 
without them, it would be with much difficulty, very heavily 
and tediously." But when he undertakes to show that they 



206 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

were constructed for this object, he mistakes their true char- 
acter ; for they were not invented for that purpose, but- 
were originally employed as nouns or verbs, from which 
they have been corrupted by use. And he seems to admit 
this fact when he says,* " abbreviation and corruption are 
always busiest with the words which are most frequently 
in use. Letters, like soldiers, being very apt to desert and 
drop off in a long march, and especially if their passage 
happens to lie near the confines of an enemy's country," 

In the original construction of language a set of literary 
men did not get together and manufacture a lot of words, 
finished thro out and exactly adapted to the expression of 
thought. Had that been the case, language would doubtless 
have appeared in a much more regular, stiff, and formal 
dress, and been deprived of many of its beautiful and lofty 
figures, its richest and boldest expressions. Necessity is 
the mother of invention, it was not until people had ideas 
to communicate, that they sought a medium for the trans- 
mission of thought from one to another; and then such 
sounds and signs were adopted as would best answer their 
purpose. But language was not then framed like a cotton 
mill, every part completed before it was set in operation. 
Single expressions, 5f/^?2-ificant of things, or ideas of things 
and actions, were first employed, in the most simple, plain, 
and easy manner.f As the human mind advanced in 

* Diversions of Purley, vol. 1, p. 77. 

t Dr. Edwards obsei'ves, in a communication to the Connecticut 
Society of Arts and Sciences, from personal knowledge, that " the 
Mohegans (Indians) have no adjectives in all their language. AI- 
tho it may at first seem not only singnlar and curious, but impossi- 
ble, that a language should exist without adjectives, yet it is an 
indubitable fact." But it is proved that in later times the Indians 
employ adjectives, derived from nouns or verbs, as well as other 



FIRST PRINCIPLES SHOULD BE OBSERVED. 237 

knowledge, by observing the character, relations, and dif- 
ferences of things, words were changed, altered, compound- 
ed, and contracted, so as to keep pace with such advance- 
ment ; just as many simple parts of a machine, operating 
on perfect and distinct principles, may be combined together 
and form a most complicated, curious, and powerful engine, 
of astonishing power, and great utility. In the adaptation 
of steam to locomotives, the principles on which stationary 
engines operated were somewhat modified. Some wheels, 
shafts, bands, screws, etc., were omitted, others of a differ- 
ent kind were added, till the whole appeared in a new cha- 
racter, and the engine, before fixed to a spot, was seen 
traversing the road with immense rapidity. The principles 
of the former engine, so far from being unessential, were 
indispensable to the construction of the new one, and should 
be clearly understood by him who would build or use the 
latter. So, in the formation of language, simple first prin- 
ciples must be observed and traced thro all their ramifica- 
tions, by those who would obtain a clear and thoro knowl- 
edge of it, or " read and write it with propriety." 

In mathematics, the four simple rules, addition, subtrac- 
tion, multiplication, and division, form the basis on which 
that interesting science depends. The modifications of these 
rules, according to their various capabilities, will give a 
complete knowledge of all that can be known of numbers, 
relations, and proportions, an acme to which all may aspire, 
tho none have yet attained it. The principles of language 



nations. Altho many of their dialects are copious and harmonious, 
yet they suffered no inconvenience from a want of contracted words 
and phrases. They added the ideas of definition and description to 
the things themselves, and expressed them in the same word, in a 
modified form. 



238 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

are equally simple, and, if correctly explained, may be as 
well understood. But the difficulty under which we labor 
in this department of science, is the paucity of means to 
trace back to their orignal form and meaning many words 
and phrases in common use among us. Language has been 
employed as the vehicle of thought, for six thousand years, 
and in that long space has undergone many and strange 
modifications. At the dispersion from Babel, and the 
"confusion of tongues" occasioned thereby, people were 
thrown upon their own resources, and left to pick up by 
piecemeal such shreds as should afterwards be wove into a 
system, and adopted by their respective nations. Wars, 
pestilence, and famine, as well as commerce, enterprize, 
literature, and rehgion, brought the different nations into 
intercourse with each other ; and changes were thus pro- 
duced in the languages of such people. Whoever will take 
the trouble to compare the idioms of speech adopted by 
those nations whose affairs, civil, political, and religious, are 
most intimately allied, will be convinced of the correctness 
of the sentiment now advanced. 

In the lapse of ages, words would not only change their 
form, but in a measure their meaning, so as to correspond 
with the ideas of those who use them. Some would become 
obsolete, and others be adopted in their stead. Many words 
are found in the Bible which are not in common use ; and 
the manner of spelling, as well as some entire words, have 
been changed in that book, since it was translated and first 
published in 1610. With these examples you are familiar, 
and I shall be spared the necessity of quoting them. I have 
already made some extracts from old writers, and may have 
occasion to do so again before I close this lecture. 



ETYMOLOGY OF CONTRACTIONS, 239 

The words which we class under the head of Contrac- 
tions, are so ahered and disguised in their appearance, that 
their etymology and connexion are not generally understood. 
It may appear like pedantry in me to attempt an investiga- 
tion into their origin and meaning. But to avoid that 
charge, I will frankly acknowledge the truth, and own my 
inability to do justice to this subject, by offering a full ex- 
planation of all the words which belong to this class. I 
will be candid, if I am not successful. But I think most of 
the words long considered difficult, may be easily explained ; 
enough to convince you of the feasibihty of the ground we 
have assumed, and furnish a sample by which to pursue the 
subject in all our future inquiries into the etymology of 
words. 

But even if I fail in this matter, I shall have one comfort 
lefl, that I am not alone in the transgression ; for no philol- 
ogist, with few exceptions, has done any thing like justice 
to this subject. Our common grammars have not even 
attempted an inquiry into the meaning of these words, but 
have treated them as tho they had none. Classes, like 
pens or reservoirs, are made for them, into which they are 
thrown, and allowed to rest, only to be named, without be- 
ing disturbed. Sometimes, however, they are found in one 
enclosure, sometimes in another, more by mistake, I appre- 
hend, than by intention ; for " prepositions" under certain 
circumstances are parsed as " adverbs," and ** adverbs" as 
" adjectives," and " conjunctions" as either " adverbs" or 
'* prepositions ;" and not unfrequently the whole go off to- 
gether, like the tail of the dragon, drawing other respec- 
table words along with them, under the sweeping cognomen 
of " adverbial phrases," or " conjunctive expressions ;" as, 
Can you write your lesson ? Not yet quite well enough. 



240 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

" But and if that evil servant,"* etc. Mr. Murray says, 
" the same word is occasionally used both as a conjunction 
and as an adverb, and sometimes as a preposition. 

Let these words be correctly defined, their meaning be 
ferreted out from the rubbish in which they have been en- 
closed ; or have their dismembered parts restored to them, 
they will then appear in their true character, and their con- 
nexion with other words will be found regular and easy. Un- 
til such work is accomplished, they may as well be called 
contractions, for such the.y mostly are, as adverbs or any 
thing else ; for that appellation we regard as more appro- 
priate than any other. 

In the attempts we are about to make, we shall endeavor 
to be guided by sound philosophic principles and the light 
of patient investigation ; and whatever advances we may 
make shall be in strict accordance with the true and practi- 
cal use of these words. 

Let us begin with Adverbs. 

I have not time to go into a thoro investigation of the mis- 
takes into which grammarians have fallen in their attempts 
to explain this "part of speech." Mr. Murray says they 
** seem originally to have been contrived to express compen- 
diously in one word, what must otherwise have required two 
or more ; as, *' he acted wisely.^^ They could have been 
" contrived''^ for no such purpose, for we have already seen 
that they are made up of various words combined together, 
which are used to express relation; to define or describe 
other things. Take the very example Mr. M. has given. 
Wisely is made up of two words ; wise and like. " He acted 
wisely," wise-like. What did he act? Wisely, we are 

* Matthew, chap. 24, v. 48. 



ADVERBS, ENDING IN LY. 241 

taught, expresses the " manner or quality" of the verb act. 
But act, m this case, is a neuter or intransitive verb, and 
wisely expresses the manner of action where there is none ! 
But he must have acted something which was tmse like some- 
thing else. What did he act ? If he produced no actions^ 
how can it be known that he acted wisely or unwisely ? 
Action or acts is the direct object of to act. Hence the sen- 
tence fully stated would stand thus : " He acted acts or ac- 
tions like wise actions or acts." But stated at length, it ap- 
pears aukward and clumsy, like old fashioned vehicles. Wc 
have modified, improved, cut down, and made eliptical, all 
of our expressions, as we have previously observed, to suit 
the fashions and customs of the age in which we live ; the 
same as tailors cut our garments to correspond with the 
latest fashions. 

« The bird sings sweetly.''' The bird sings songs, notes, 
or tunes, like sweet notes, tunes, or songs. The comparison 
here made, is not in reference to the agent or action, but the 
object of the action ; and this explains the whole theory of 
those adverbs, which are said to " qualify manner" of ac- 
tion. We have already seen that no action, as such, can 
exist, or be conceived to exist, separate(.ed) from the thing 
or agent which acts ; and such action can only be deter- 
mined by the changed or altered condition of something 
which is the object of such action. How then, can any 
word, in truth, or in thought, be known to qualify the action, 
as distinct from the object or agent? And if it does not in 
fa^^t, how can we explain words to children, or to our own 
minds, so as to understand what is not true ? 

Hence all words of this character are adjectives, describ- 
ing one thing by its relation or likeness to another, and as 
such, admit of comparison ; as, a likely man, a ven/ likely 



242 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

man, a likelier, and the likeliest man. "He is the most 
likely pedlar I ever Jinew." " He is more liable to be de- 
ceived." " A lively little fellow." " He is worthless." 
He is worth less, less worthy of respect and confidence. <' He 
writes very correctly." He writes his letters and words 
like very correct letters. But I need not enlarge. You 
have only to bear in mind the fact, that ly is a contraction 
o^ like, which is often retained in many words ; as godlike, 
christianZi^e, etc., and search for a definition accordingly ; 
and you will find no trouble in disposing of a large portion 
of this adverb family. 

It is a curious fact, and should be maturely considered by 
all who still adhere to the neuter verb theory, that adverbs 
qualify neuter as well as active verbs, and express the qual- 
iiy or manner of action, where there is none ! Adverbs ex- 
press " manner of action" in a neuter verb ! When a per- 
son starts wrong it is very difficult to go right. The safest 
course is to return back and start again. 

Adverbs have been divided into classes, varying from 
eleven to seventy -two, to suit the fancies of those who have 
only observed the nice shades of form which these words 
have assumed. But a bonnet is a bonnet, let its shape, 
form, or fashion, be what it may. You may put on as 
many trimmings, flowers, bows, and ribbons, as you please ; 
it is a bonnet still ; and when we speak of it we will call it 
a ^owweij and talk about its appendages. But when it is 
constructed into something else, then we will give it a new 
name. 

Adjectives, we have said, are derived from either nouns 
or verbs, and we now contend that the words formerly re- 
garded as adverbs axe either adjectives, nouns, or verbs? 



ADVERBS, AGO. ASTRAY. AWAKE. 243 

In defence of this sentiment we will adduce a few words ia 
this place for examples. 

Ago. " Three years ago, we dwelt in the country." 
This word is a past participle from the verb ago, meaning 
the same as gone or agone, and was so used a few centuries 
ago — agone, or gone hy. 

'' For euer the latter ende of ioye is wo, 

God wotte, worldly ioye is soone ago" — Chaucer. 

" For if it erst was well, tho was it bet 

A thousand folde, this nedeth it not require 

Ago was euery sorowe and euery fere." 

Troylus, hoke 3, p. 2. 
♦• Of such examples as I finde 
Upon this point of tyme agone 
I thinke for to tellcn one." — Gower, lib. 5, p. 1. 
*« Which is no more than has been done 
By knights for ladies, long agone." — Hudibras. 
"■ Twenty years agone." — Tillotsori's sermon. 
'• Are all tJie go." — Knickerbocker. 

Astray. " They went astray." Astrayed, wandered 
or were scattered, and of course soon became estranged 
from each other. Farmers all know what it is for cattle 
to stray from home ; and many parents have felt the keen 
pangs of sorrow when their sons strayed from the paths of 
virtue. In that condition they are astray.ed. 

'• This prest was drank and goth astrayede." 

" Achab to the bottle went. 

When Benedad for all his sheldc 

Him slough, so that upon the felde 

His people goth aboute astraie." — Gower. 

Awake. "He is awake.^^ "Samson awaked out of his 
sleep." •' That I may awake him out of sleep." "It is 



244 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

high time to awake.'" " As a man that is wakened out of 
sleep." The Irish hold a wake — they do not sleep the night 
after the loss of friends. 
Asleep. 

" When that pyte, which lorvge on sleep doth tary 
Hath set the fyne of al my heuynesse." 

Chaucer, La belle dame, p. 1. c. 1. 

• 

" Ful sound on sleep did caucht thare rest be kind." 
Douglas, b. 9, p. 283. 

" In these provynces the fayth of Chryste was all 
quenchyd and in sleepe." — Fahian, 

A numerous portion of these contractions are nouns, 
which, from their frequent recurrence, are used without 
their usual connexion with small words. The letter a is 
compounded with many of these words, which may have 
been joined to them by habit, or as a preposition, meaning 
on, <o, at, in, as it is used in the french and some other lan- 
guages. You often hear expressions like these, " he is a- 
going ; he is a-writing ; he began fl^-new," etc. The old 
adverbs which take this letter, you can easily analyze ; as, 
" The house is a-fire" — on fire ; " He fell a-sleep" — he fell 
on sleep. " When deep sleep falleth on men." — Job. He 
stept a-side" — on one side. " He came a-board" — on board. 
" They put it a-foot" — on foot. " He went a-way" — a way, 
followed some course, to a distance. " Blue bonnets are all 
the go now a-days," etc. 

The following extracts will give you an idea of the ety- 
mology of these words : 

" Turnus seyes the Troianis in grete yre, 
And al thare schyppis and navy set in fire" 

Douglas, b. 9, p, 274. 



ADVERBS OF PLACE AND TIME. 245 

*' Now hand in hand the djnt lichtis with ane swak, 

Now bendis he up his bourdon with ane mynt, 

On side (a-side) he bradis for to eschew tlie dynt." — Idem. 

♦« That easter fire and flame aboute 

Both at mouth and at nase 

So that thei setten all on blaze," (ablaze.) — Gower. 

" And tyl a wicked deth him take 

Him had leuer asondre (a-sunder) shake * 

And let al his lymmes asondre ryue 

Thane leaue his richesse in his lyuc." — Chaucer. 

Examples of this kind might be multiplied to an indefinite 
length. But the above will suffice to give you an idea of 
the former use of these words, and also, by comparison with 
the present, of the changes which have taken place in the 
method of spelling within a few centuries. 

A large portion of adverbs relate to time andp/ace, be- 
cause many of our ideas, and much of our language, are 
employed in reference to them ; as, tlieih when, where, there, 
here, hence, whence, thence, while, till, whether, etc. These 
are compound words considerably disguised in their mean- 
ing and formation. Let us briefly notice some of them. 

Per annum is a latin phrase, for the year, a year ; and 
the annum is the year, round or period of time, from which 
it was corrupted gradually into its present shape. Thanne, 
tha anne, thane, thenne, then, than, are different forms of the 
same word. 

" We see nowe bi a mirror in darcnesse : thanne for- 
sathe, face to face. Nowe I know of partye ; thanne for- 
sathe schal know as I am knowen." — 1. Cor. 13 : 12. 
Translation in 1350. 

I have a translation of the same passage in 1586, which 
stands thus : " For nowe we see through a glasse darkley ; 
but thene face to face : now I know in part : but then shal 



246 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

I know even as I am knowen." Here several words are 
spelled differently in the same verse. 

Then, the anne, that time. When, wha anne, " wha-ichU 
anne,'' which, or what anne, period of time. 

Area means an open space, a plat of ground, a spot or 
place. Arena is from the same etymon, altered in applica- 
tion. There, the area, the 'place or sfot, " If we go ihere,^^ 
to that place. Where, which, or what (" wha-icht area") 
place. Here, his (latin word for this,) area, this place. 
These words refer to place, state, or condition. 

While is another spelling for wheel. "To while away 
our time," is to pass, spend, or wheel it away. While ap- 
plies to the period, or space of time, in which something 
wheels, whirls, turns round, or transpires ; as, " You had 
better remain here while (during the time) he examines 
whether it is prudent for you to go." 

Till is to while, to the period at which something is ex- 
pected to follow. " If I will that he tarry till (to the time) 
I come what is that to thee ?" 

The idea of time and place are often blended together. 
It is not uncommon to hear lads and professed scholars, in 
some parts of our country say "down till the bottom, over 
till the woods." etc. Altho we do not regard such expres- 
sions correct, yet they serve to explain the meaning of the 
word. The only mistake is in applying it to place instead 
of time. 

Whether is which either. " Shew whether of these two 
thou hast chosen." — Acts 1:24. It is more frequently ap- 
plied in modern times to circumstance and events than to 
persons and things. " I will let you know whether I will 
or will not adopt it," one or the other. 



EVER. OfT. — HENCE. — NOT. 247 

Together signifies two or more united. Gethered is the 
past participle o^ gather. 

As Mailie, an' her lambs thegitker. 

Were ae day nibbling on the tether." — Burns. 

Ever means time, age, period. It originally and essen- 
tially signified life. For ever is for the age or period. For 
ever and ever, to the ages of ages. Ever-lasting is age- 
IcLSting. Ever-lasting hills, snows, landmarks, etc. 

Never, ne-ever, not ever, at no time, age or period. 

When-ever. — At what point or space of time or age. 

What-ever. — What thing, fact, circumstance, or event. 

Where-ever. — To, at, or in what place, period, age, or 
time. 

Whither-so-ever, which-way-so-ever, where-so-ever, 
never-the-less, etc. need only be analyzed, and their mean- 
ing will appear obvious to all. 

Oft, often, oft-times, oiien-times, can be understood by 
all, because the noun to which they belong is qft-en retained 
in practice. 
- Once, twice, at one time, two times. 

Hence, thence, whence, from this, that, or what, place, 
spot, circumstance, post, or starting place. 

Hence-for-ward, hence-forth, in time to come, after this 
period. 

Here-after, after this era, or present time. 

Hither, to this spot or place. Thither, to that place. 
Hither-to, hither-ward, etc. the same as to you ward, or to 
God ward, still retained in our bibles. 

Per-haps, it may hap. Perchance, peradventure, by 
chance, by adventure. The latin per means by. 

Not, no ought, not any, nothing. It is a compound of 
ne and ought or aught. 



248 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

Or is a contraction from other, and nor from we-qr, no-or, 
no other. 

No-wiSE, no ways. I will go, or, other-wise, in another 
way or manner, you must go. 

Than, the arte, the one, that one, alluding to a particular 
object with which a comparison is made; as, This book is 
larger than that bible. That one bible, this book is larger. 
It is always used with the comparative degree, to define 
particularly the object with which the comparison is made. 
Talent is better than flattery. Than flattery, often bestowed 
regardless of merit, talent is better. 

As is an adjective in extensive use. It means the, this, 
that, these, the same, etc. It is a defining word of the first 
kind. You practice as you have been taught — the same 
duties or principles understood. We use language as we 
have learned it ; in the same way or manner. It is often 
associated with other words to particularly specify the way, 
manner, or degree, in which something is done or compared. 
I can go as well as you. In the same well, easy, convenient 
way or manner you can go, I can go in the same way. He 
was as learned, as pious, as benevolent, as brave, as faithful, 
as ardent. These are purely adjectives, used to denote the 
degree of the likeness or similarity between the things com- 
pared. Secondary words are often added to this, to aid the 
distinction or definition ; as, {the same illustrated,) He is just 
as willing. I am quite as well pleased without it. As, like 
many other adjectives, often occurs without a noun ex- 
pressed, in which case it was formerly parsed by Murray 
himself a5 (like, or the same) a relative pronoun ; as, "And 
indeed it seldom at any period extends to the tip, as happens 
in acute diseases." — Dr. Siveetster. "The ground I have 
assumed is tenable, as will appear." — Webster . "Bona- 



CONJUNCTIONS- 249 

parte had a special motive in decorating Paris, for ' Paris 
is France, as has often been observed." — Channing. " The 
words are such as seem.'" — Murray's Reader! p. 16, intro. 

So has nearly the same signification as the word last 
noticed, and is frequently used along with it, to define 
the other member of the comparison. As far as I can un- 
derstand, so far I approve. As he directed, so I obeyed. 
It very often occurs as a secondary adjective ; as, " In pious 
and benevolent ofiices so simple, so minute, so steady, so 
habitual, that they will carry," etc. " He pursued a course 
so unvarying." — Channing. 

These w^ords are the most important of any small ones in 
our vocabulary, because (for this cause, be this the cause, 
this is the cause) they are the most frequently used ; and 
yet there are no words so little understood, or so much 
abused by grammarians, as these are. 

We have barely time to notice the remaining parts of 
speech. " Conjunctions" are defined to be a " part of speech 
void of signification, but so formed as to help signification, 
by making two or more significant sentences to be one sig- 
nificant sentence." Mr. Harris gives about forty " species." 
Murray admits of only the (Zzs-junctive and copulative, and 
reduces the whole list of words to twenty-four. But what 
is meant by a dis. ]unc\.\ye con-junctive word, is left for you 
to determine. It must be in keeping with mdefinite defining 
articles, and _po5/. positive _pre.positions. He says, " it joins 
words, but disjoins the sense."* And what is a word with out 

* Examples of a ^fs-junclive conjunction. " They came with her, 
hut they went without her." — Murray. 

Murray is wrong, and Cardell is right. The simplificrs are 
wrono^, hut their standard is so likewise. 

" Me he restored to my office, and him he hanged." — Pharaoh's 
Letter. 



250 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

sense,^^ pray tell us ? If " words are the signs of ideas," 
how, m the name of reason, can you give the sign and sepv 
arate the sense? You can as well separate the shadow from 
the substance, or a quality from matter. 

We have already noticed Rule 18, which teaches the use 
of conjunctions. Under that rule, you may examine these ex- 
amples. " As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall 
bey — Common Prayer. "What \do, have done, or maij here- 
after do, has been, and will always be matter of inclination, 
the gratifying of which pays itself: and I have no more merit 
in employing my time and money in the way I am known 
to do, than another has in other occupations." — Howard, 

The following examples must suffice. 

If. This word is derived from the saxon gifan, and was 
formerly written giff, gyff, gif, geve, give, yiff, yef, yeve. It 
signifies give, grant, allow, suppose, admit, and is always a 
verb in the imperative mood, having the following sentence 
or idea for its object. " If b. pound of sugar cost ten cents, 
what will ten pounds cost ?" Give, grant, allow, suppose, 
(the fact,) one pound cost, etc. In this case the supposition 
which stands as a predicate — one pound of sugar cost ten 
cents, is the object of zf — the thing to be allowed, supposed, 
or granted, and from which the conclusion as to the cost of 
ten pounds is to be draw^n. 

" He will assist us if he has the means." Allow, admit, 
(the fact,) he has the means, he will assist us. 

" Gif luf be vertew, than is it leful thing ; 

Gif it be vice, it is your undoing." — Douglas p. 95. 

" Ne I ne wol non reherce, ye/ that I may." — Chaucer. 

" She was so charitable and so pytous 

She wolde vvepe yf that she sawe a mous 

Caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde." — Prioresse. 



CONJUNCTIONS. IF. BUT. AND 251 

" O haste and come to my roaster dear." 
" Gin ye be Barbara Allen." — Burns. 

But. This- word has two opposite significations. It is 
derived from two different radicals. But, from the saxon 
be and utan, out, means be out, leave out, save, except, omit ,as, 
" all but one are here." Leave out, except, one, all are here. 

" Heaven from all creation hides the book of fate 
All but (save, except) the page prescribed our present state." 
" When nought but (leave out) the torrent is heard on the hill, 
And nought but (save) the nightingale's song in the grove." 

" Nothing hut fear restrains him." In these cases the 
direct objects of the verb, the things to be omitted are ex- 
pressed. 

But is also derived from botan, which signifies to add, 
superadd, join or unite ; as, in the old form of a deed, " it 
is butted and bounded as follows." Two animals butt their 
heads together. The butt of a log is that end which was 
joined to the stump. A butt, butnient or a-butment is the 
joined end, where there is a connexion with something else. 
A butt of ridicule is an object to which ridicule is attached. 

Not only saw he all that was. 

But (add) much that never came to pass." — M^Fingal. 

To button, butt'On, is derived from the same word, to join 
one side to the other, to fasten together. It was formerly 
spelled botan, boote, bote, hot, butte, bute, but. It is still 
spelled boot in certain cases as a verb ; as, 

" What boots it thee to fly from pole to pole, 
Hang o'er the earth, and with the planets roll ? 
What boots ( ) thro space's fartherest bourns to roam, 
If thou, O man, a stranger art at home ?" — Crrainger. 

" If love had hooted care or cost." 



252 ON CONTRACTIONS. 

A man exchanged his house in the city for a farm, and 
received fifty dollars to hoot; to add to his property, and 
make the exchange equal. 

Let presents the same construction in form and meaning 
as but, for it is derived from two radicals of opposite signi- 
fications. It means sometimes to permit or allow ; as, let 
me go ; let me have it ; and to hinder or prevent ; as, " I 
proposed to come unto you, hut (add this fact) I was let 
hitherto." — Ro7n. 1: 13. " He who now letteth, will let 
until he be taken out of the way." — 2 Thess. 2 : 7. 

And is a past participle signifying added, one-ed, joined. 
It was formerly placed after the words ; as, "James, John, 
David, and, (united to-geiher-ed,) go to school." We now 
place it hefore the last word. 

Tho, altho, yet. " Tho (admit, allow, the fact) he slay 
me, yet (get, have, know, the fact) I will trust in him." Yes 
is from the same word as yet. It means get or have my 
consent to the question asked. Nay is the opposite of yes, 
ne-aye, nay, no. The ayes and noes were called for. 

I can pursue this matter no farther. The limits assigned 
me have been overrun already. What light may have been 
aflTorded you in relation to these words, will enable you to 
discover that they have meaning which must be learned be- 
fore they can be explained correctly ; that done, all diffi- 
culty is removed. 

Interjections deserve no attention. They form no part 
of language, but may be used by beasts and birds as well 
as by men. They are indistinct utterances of emotions, 
which come not within the range of human speech. 



